


Masks

by erisgregory, oitooru



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe, Angst, Dopplegangers, Drama, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, False Identity, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Kageyama and Tsukishama are Half Brothers, M/M, Marriage Under False Pretenses, Marriage of Convenience, Mental Health Issues, Murder Mystery, Murder Plot, No Volleyball Sadly, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Violence, Wealthy Kageyama, poor hinata
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-05-19 15:51:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 41,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5973028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erisgregory/pseuds/erisgregory, https://archiveofourown.org/users/oitooru/pseuds/oitooru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hinata's family is in trouble and it's up to him to come up with the money for the loan sharks. He's got nowhere to turn until a stranger makes an offer he can't refuse. Hinata finds himself cut off from his life, in the middle of a nefarious plot he doesn't understand, bound to a man he owes everything to, a man who seems capable of anything, maybe even murder. Hinata knows what he agreed to, and he plans to do his best, for his family, but he never imagined what he'd be expected to do in exchange for his family's freedom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Death of Hinata Shouyou

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic based on the Korean Drama, Mask, which we highly recommend. The rating is in place for violence and thematic elements and the tags may change as the story progresses.  
> [Fic Blog](http://haikyuu-masks-au.tumblr.com/)  
> beta'd by the amazing [Sydlee3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Sydlee3/pseuds/Sydlee3) who is our savior. All mistakes remain our own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (3-19-16 tag update. We've updated the fic to reflect a major character death because originally we were not considering this character major or the death to be significant in any way. It was not our intention to lead any of our readers astray. When the time comes we will add notes at the end with more information about the character or characters who will die, how they will die, and where we've included skip links so you can avoid reading it directly if you prefer. Thank you so much for giving this fic a chance! We appreciate all of your support!

Hinata can’t keep control of the car. It’s raining, the road is slick and it’s too dark for him to see this far away from town. He can feel the car hydroplaning then catching again on the pavement, but he can’t focus on that when his captor is struggling to gain control of the wheel. He should slow down, they should stop, but if they stop he doesn’t know what will happen. He’s pretty sure if he does now, he’ll die.

“Slow down!” the man yells at him as they take the curve Hinata hadn’t seen coming and it’s too fast, way too fast. 

The wheels slip again and Hinata is helpless, turning the wheel to no avail as the car careens across to the other side, turning, turning, until Hinata is dizzy. He panics and tries to brake, but it’s too late, the car just continues to slide right into the railing.

The car crashes with a sick screech of metal on metal, and it’s just like the movies, everything seems to slow down. Hinata is noticing all the little details, like the fact that his captor wasn’t wearing a seat belt. The fact that they were no longer on the road, but rather a bridge. The seat belt as it digs into his pelvic bone and sears across his chest. The car was going fast, but it’s slowing now, just not enough. Not enough to stop at the railing. Hinata watches in horror as the front of the car tears right through and they keep going forward, tipping, hanging out over the edge of the bridge.

It comes to a stop finally, the car swaying forward and back as if contemplating going all the way over. All the way over means off into the river that’s coursing in the rain far below him. He’s okay, he would be okay, if he could get out, if the car will hold steady long enough. Beside him, his captor is unconscious and leaning against the dashboard. They need to be leaning back, if anything, but more importantly, Hinata needs the keys to unlock the handcuffs the guy locked him in.

“Hey, hey! Wake up!” Hinata shoves at the man, but he doesn’t budge. 

There’s a bright trail of blood seeping from his head, but Hinata keeps trying. After a few moments of struggle, the car moves ever so slightly, and Hinata begins to panic. He grabs at the man’s jacket, trying to get to his keys but when he finally gets ahold of them, a cable snaps causing the car to jump forward and down and the windshield to give out underneath his captor.

Hinata grabs at him, trying to keep him in the car but he’s too heavy and Hinata only has one free hand to hold him by. The man falls down into the water. There was nothing he could do to stop it. Hinata watches him all the way down, knowing that if he can’t get out of this car, he’s next.

Tears slipping down his face, Hinata goes after the keys that fell out under the seat. His left hand is still handcuffed to the steering wheel and he is unable to reach them from his angle. Struggling only makes the car tip forward and there’s no way for him to reach, nothing he can see to use either. Around him the wind howls and the car groans, the metal scraping, shifting. He has to do something and fast.

Grasping for them one last time, he leans back against his seat, trying to think. If he could get out of the cuffs, he might be able to balance the car by getting in the backseat. While he tried to pull at his restraint, his phone started ringing in the glove compartment. Desperate, Hinata leans towards it, opening it and grabbing the phone successfully. He answered it immediately, despite who was calling. “Crazy Fucker.”

“Help!” Hinata cried into the phone. He could barely keep it up to his ear he was shaking so hard with the effort to press his body back into his seat as though that might stop the car from falling any further.

“Help? Does this mean you’re accepting my offer?” the cold voice on the other end wasn’t helping Hinata’s nerves.

“It means I need help. Right now!” Hinata screamed.

“I can tell. But I won’t do anything unless you accept,”the man says calmly.

Just hearing the oily slick smoothness, the calm mocking makes Hinata want to throw the phone and give up, but he can’t. He’s about to say as much, but the man beats him to it.

“You can take your time. Call me back with a real answer.” Then he’s gone and Hinata is staring through his tears at the swirling water below.

He can’t reach the keys. He can’t slip out of the handcuff, and it’s not possible to break free. All of his tugging has only torn the skin under the metal cuff. He has no options here. He takes a deep breath, swallows back his panic as best he can, and dials Crazy Fucker back.

“That was prompt,” the man said.

“Yes,” Hinata tells him. “I accept,” he’s breathing hard, his heart refusing to cooperate with his attempt at calming down.

“I think that’s very wise, all things considered. You are agreeing to do everything I say, yes? You’ll do what I tell you without question?”

“Yes, yes, to whatever. If this is my only chance, then I’m taking it. Help me. Help my family, please.” Hinata begs. The tears are back, clogging his throat.

“We have a deal. I’ll erase your family’s debt and in exchange you’ll do everything I tell you.”

“Yes,” Hinata says again.

“Good. Then there’s just one thing I need you to do first, Hinata Shouyou. I need you to die,” The call drops again and Hinata let’s himself go, sobbing at the injustice of it all. 

He has no idea what will happen beyond this moment, but he knows he has to say goodbye, if he can so he puts the phone in front of him and turns on the camera to record.

“Hey guys, it’s um, it’s me. I know I don’t say it enough but I love you guys. I’m going to help you and you won’t have worry about mom anymore, okay? She’ll get better and then you can relax. So stop with all the fretting, Dad. You too, Nastu. You could both use a break from it,” Hinata’s voice cracked and he turned the phone over as he wiped his face.

“I just love you all so, so much. Dad, I know you’re scared but it’ll be okay after this. Natsu, I need you to help Mom and Dad through what happens next. It’s gonna be hard and tough but you’re strong enough to handle it. Make sure Mom doesn’t do anything drastic, okay? No more loans. Go live, all of you. I love you.” Hinata hit the stop button and and sent it to his father, who hopefully wouldn’t see it until later.

He started crying hysterically. He couldn’t help himself, the situation was just way too much for him. For anyone really. He was exhausted from it all. From the worry and the fear and the uncertainty. From the barely scraping by, from the whole fucking thing. Hinata let it all out, crying out against the wind and rain.

Then the final cable snapped, dropping the car into the water below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Fic Blog](http://haikyuu-masks-au.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Erisgregory's Blog](http://erisgregory.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Ooi_kawa's Blog](http://oikawa-no.tumblr.com/)


	2. Three Hundred Yen Happiness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We got fanart from the fantastic smolnerds which you can see here, thank you so much that really did get us back to writing faster!
> 
> Also I'd like to take a moment to say we're a tiny bit sorry that so many of our faves are coming off as badies in this fic. It sucks when everyone in a show is our fave and so many are needed for #teambadguy.

_Death has a few upsides, I guess. All the debts I had are gone, and I’ll never have to work with my hideous boss again. But I’ll never see my sister graduate and my father won't ever smile at me again. I won’t get to eat with my family anymore and I won’t be there for them when they find out._

_Of course, none of this would have happened if it weren’t for that crazy fucker. There was no reason for him to ruin my happiness in just a few days. Yet here we are. And I’m dead. I paid the ultimate price._

***

Kageyama could feel his hands shaking as he buttoned up his shirt and put on his suit jacket. He had to calm down if his presentation was going to go well, he was running out of time to prepare himself.

By the time his secretary arrived to get him he was sweaty and still nervous. She lead him through the halls to the conference room, where the sponsors and chairman were waiting. He was supposed to give a loss versus gain presentation but now he wasn’t sure if he could do it. He had to, he had to show everyone he could be trusted.

When they arrived, Kageyama mentally steeled himself, trying to get ahold of his thoughts. The door opened and the secretary stepped out, telling him to enter. He didn’t look at anyone in the room and started working on setting up his presentation. His hands twitched with anxiety and he felt eyes on his back. He cleared his throat and began speaking as soon as his laptop was set up.

“In the last season, the team made twenty eight trillion yen. As you know, our corporation holds about fifty six percent of the shares, the rest is spread between you all and the players,” Kageyama watched as one of the sponsors stood and walked towards him and clapped him on the shoulder. He could feel the hand just as well as if it were burning through his shirt. He couldn’t takes his eyes off it.

“Haha, while we enjoy opening statements that stroke our egos, why don't we move on to the problem at hand?” the man laughed again but didn’t take the hand away. Kageyama could almost see the germs coming off that hand, crawling over his shoulder, spreading like a virus. It made him feel hot and itchy all over and he tried his best not to react. He needed to focus.

“Yes, on to the issue of the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial company. There is a rumor that they will be leaving the sponsor list and transferring to another team,” Oikawa Tooru spoke up from the back of the room.

“Um…” Kageyama still couldn’t take his eyes away from the hand on his shoulder. It made him uncomfortable just to look at it.

“Do you have a statement?” Oikawa raised his voice slightly, making Kageyama wince. “Can you confirm or deny this rumor?” He forced himself to look up and straighten his thoughts.

“I took it as gossip started by a rival team,” he said quietly. He was definitely shaken and it wasn’t going well for him.

“Yes, but did you ever confirm it?” Oikawa’s voice was loud enough to make Kageyama flinch but not enough to set anyone else off.

“I…”

“Director Kageyama!” the Chairman’s voice snapped him back to reality.

“Yes, Father,” the Chairman inhaled sharply, causing him to realize his mistake.

“Sorry, Chairman Kageyama,” the older man leaned back in his chair, waiting, the impatience clear on his face. 

Before Kageyama could say anything else his father was speaking. “These days, people think it’s a given that you hand down your company to your children. But there are so many companies that have been destroyed by incompetent heirs. I will not have my legacy taken down. You must prove that you are capable of holding up the ship.”

“I will prove it.” Kageyama stood as tall as he could and managed to keep his voice level. He would prove it, there was no other choice.

***

“There is a rumor that you don’t like anyone, male or female. I suppose it's just talk,” the orange haired man crossed his legs under the table, leaning in across the table.

“I guess you’re enjoying yourself, Hotaru,” Kageyama leaned back in his chair to put more distance between himself and the smaller man. 

The table was rather large to be seated across in a restaurant, but Kageyama appreciated the barrier it created which is why he’d requested it. They were away from the windows, but not so much that he couldn’t see the lights of the city if he looked out. The chandeliers above them were low lit and warm, casting the white tablecloth in shades of buttercream. For all of the elegance and cleanliness, there was still Hotaru to contend with. Even with his diminutive stature, he filled the place with barely concealed disdain.

“When we’re married, you’ll buy me this restaurant, right?” Hotaru smiled devilishly. His spoke slowly, but kept his voice soft so he gave the impression of manners and good breeding until you listened to his words.

“Why not ask for the whole chain? Wouldn’t you rather run the whole company?” Kageyama asked nonchalantly. He didn’t care for the turn the conversation had taken. Thankfully the staff was giving them the privacy Kageyama asked for.

“Then give it to me as a wedding present. People will be impressed, they’ll talk about it for a long time,” Kageyama felt himself smirk. “You’re thinking that it’s impossible.”

“Because it is. The owner would never sell such a successful place.” Kageyama felt his expression harden. Hotaru wasn’t going to be an easy partner.

“Not for whatever you’d offer. I don’t like cheap men,” Hotaru picked up his wine glass and took a drink.

“Too bad,” Kageyama watched as Hotaru made a face at him.

“You know, other than the rumor I told you about, there’s a lot of gossip saying I have a lover. It’s not you, so don’t flatter yourself,” Hotaru smirked, but only the tiniest bit. For the most part his face revealed nothing.

Kageyama raised a brow at his fiance’s words. “Well? Is it true?” he asked.

“Why would I bring it up if it wasn’t?” Hotaru sat his glass down and twisted the stem between his finger and thumb, turning the glass in the low light.

“Because you love to hear yourself talk.” Kageyama was done pretending to eat and drink. If Hotaru had a lover and the media got ahold of it, it would be disastrous for their merger.

“Well. You better watch out anyway. I’m going to keep seeing him after we’re married,” Hotaru smiled wickedly and drank the rest of his wine.

“I don’t care. You remember our contract, right?” Kageyama looked Hotaru in the eye.

“Of course I do. And it clearly states that there will be no kind of relationship between the two of us, so don’t go falling for me.” Hotaru wasn’t smiling any more. He looked cold.

“I wouldn’t think of it. Not even a little.” Kageyama told him flatly. In fact, Hotaru had not only insured there wouldn’t be a physical relationship between them, something Kageyama was perfectly fine with, he’d also stated that any physical touch would be seen as a criminal act. The man had ice in his veins and Kageyama was perfectly content to keep his distance.

“Good. Because the man I love will always be there,” Hotaru kept on, like he was expecting some kind of reaction .

Kageyama looked away, annoyed. “Sure, whatever. Just don’t get caught. It’d be bad for the both of us if something like that got out.”

Hotaru’s lips pressed into a thin line. “You know I’m not stupid enough to be caught.”

“I only say it because I have to. You know what our contract says, and I know you’ll stick to it. If it ends badly for me, I’ll make you pay damages.” Kageyama told him.

“So you understand this pretty well then, huh? Maybe we can be friends,” Hotaru smiled again, but Kageyama scoffed.

“Friends. I don’t mix business and friendship,” Kageyama threw down his napkin on the table. “I’m done, let’s go.”

Hotaru grinned, “Let’s.”

The walk out to the front was silent. The staff lined up for them to hold open the doors as they approached. Before Hotaru could climb into the sleek gray car waiting for him at the curb, Kageyama grabbed his arm.

“Here’s the down payment.” When Hotaru didn’t move, he added, “Go on, you can check it.” Kageyama presented him with a small black box. Hotaru opened it and was dazzled by the ring inside. He pulled it out turning it over to see that the diamonds that ringed it did in fact go all the way around. It was just shy of being delicate and exactly the sort of thing Hotaru expected.

“Tobio… Is there no one you love?” his voice seemed small.

“Does he know we’re getting married?” Kageyama blurted.

“He’ll know once we’re married,” the light left Hotaru’s eyes.

“I feel sorry for the both of you. Really.” Kageyama couldn’t help feel slightly appalled by the callousness. Yes he was agreeing to a business merger in the guise of a marriage, but he wasn’t betraying anyone to do so.

“I feel sorry for you.” Hotaru snapped the box closed. “You don’t have anyone to love.” 

Kageyama’s expression faltered. He looked down at his watch, not really caring what it said, and then walked towards his car. Hotaru was about to do the same when he heard someone calling.

“Shouyou!”

Instinctively, everyone turned to look. The source seemed to be a tall man with black hair. His smiled faded when Hotaru looked at him. He bowed his head and walked away.

***

Hinata walked away from his boss’s office dejectedly. This was the third month in a row that he’d gotten the least amount in sales. He sat at his place behind the register and watched as his friend gave him a look and came over.

“Did she yell at you again?” Kenma asked, his voice pitched even lower than usual. There weren’t any customers just then so they had time to talk, as long as they weren’t caught, of course.

“Yeah… she lowered my pay again,” Hinata put his head in his hands. “Am I making money to live? Or am I living to make money?”

“You need a hobby. Seriously. You’ll regret it if you just spend this time working, sleeping and eating,” Kenma pulled out his phone and checked the time to see how much longer they had on their shift.

“Shouyou! Kozume!” both boys turned their heads to look for who was calling. It was Kuroo back early from his break, something that never happened.

“Don’t yell in the store, how many times do I have to tell you this?” Kenma said in a chastising tone. Kuroo ducked his head, breathing hard.

“Dude, I’m sorry but you won’t believe who I just saw,” Hinata and Kenma shared a look.

“Who’d you see this time?” Kenma asked.

“I saw someone who looked just like Shouyou! He looked rich too. Are you sure you don’t have a twin or something?” Hinata sighed.

“You caught me. I’m the third son to the head of the Kageyama group. I’ve been working in secret to see how it is for our employees,” he said sarcastically while looking Kuroo in the eye.

“Whoa…” Kuroo said, shocked.

“He’s kidding you ass,” Kenma kicked his boyfriend in the shin.

“Oh,” Kuroo said, confused. Hinata burst out laughing.

“Can you ring this up for me?” asked a familiar voice. Hinata froze as Kenma took the item from the man and scanned it. He looked up at the man and gulped at who he saw. 

It was the men who had been lending his father money. Akaashi Keiji and Kotaro Bokuto had kept Hinata’s family in debt for almost five years now and here they had the nerve to show up at his workplace?

When Kenma was ready for Akaashi to pay, he set down a large sum and asked Hinata to take him to the back. Kenma looked worried, but Hinata brushed it off.

As he walked the man to the back of the store, he began to sweat. He wasn’t normally involved directly like this. He led them back to one of the lesser used storage rooms. It smelled of disinfectant and old boxes. It was just big enough that Akaashi was able to shut the door behind them and lock it while Bokuto backed Hinata into the wall.

“You’ll find that we’ve given you a little extra this time, just this once,” Bokuto examined his nails.

“Thank you. We’ll have the interest this month, I swear,” Hinata took the money and stuffed it in his bag.

“You know, I can always find you a better job. This one doesn’t seem to pay much,” Bokuto drawled. 

Hinata stopped moving. “I don’t want the job you’re offering,” he said solemnly. He hadn’t wanted it a year ago and he still didn’t want him now. It made his skin crawl just thinking about it.

“Are you sure? Flexible hours and high pay.” Akaashi sneered, giving Hinata a slow up and down look that made Hinata want to hide.

“I know what you’re selling but I’m not going to buy it.” Hinata lifted his chin, trying to sound certain and calm.

“I can agree that what you want is important,” Akaashi turned to his colleague. “Let’s go.”

“Wait! Don’t you have anything else to say?” Hinata reached a hand out to stop them, but dropped it just shy of actually touching Bokuto’s paisley clad arm.

“No?” Akaashi’s lip curled up at him.

“You know, if you gave us just a little more time, we could give enough to cover all the interest instead of just this month,” Hinata said quietly. Akaashi sighed.

“How much more time?” Bokuto looked pissed.

“If you just give us ten da-,” Bokuto cut Hinata off by grabbing his arm and pulling out a knife. He unsheathed it and quickly drew it down the palm of Hinata’s outstretched hand. Hinata let out a yelp.

“You have two days. Three million yen in two days. Stay determined, alright?” Bokuto was close enough that Hinata could smell the stale liquor on his breath. He shuddered which was the wrong move. Bokuto wiped the bloody edge of the knife on Hinata’s sleeve with a grin before putting it away.

Hinata watched the duo leave through the back door without saying anything else, his hand hurt but there wasn’t much he could do at the moment.

This was all just a huge mess. And he was the one who was going to have to clean it up. He could do it though, just a little extra overtime, and maybe his boss would give him his paycheck early again. He was deep in thought as he walked to the bathroom, trying to conceal his hand from his coworkers.

While he tended to his hand, his phone buzzed. It was a text from an unknown number.

_There’s going to be an alumni reunion for Shiratorizawa Academy. Graduates from our class are invited to have a wine party._

Hinata stared at the screen for a few moments, taking note of the attached address, before sliding it into his pocket and leaving the bathroom in a hurry.

In his haste, he ran into a man walking from one of the offices, knocking him down. Hinata immediately leaned down to help the man up, offering him a hand. The man rejected his hand, brushing it aside as if it offended him. Hinata couldn’t care enough just then to be offended himself so he marched past. He didn’t have time for that.

***

Hinata tried to steel his nerves. He was here and he was going to have fun. He stood in the entry hall of the restaurant for a moment, trying to keep his anxieties in check before heading into the main room. It was a large well appointed bar, the bar itself in the center of the room surrounded by plush stools. Everything was in deep reds and dark woods. The tables that spread throughout the rest of the room were filled with glittering patrons. Just looking at it all made Hinata feel out of place.

There were more people than he’d expected but that meant there was a higher chance of finding someone he knew well. He tried to think of the friends he’d had but he didn’t see their faces in the crowd. The way people turned toward him only to turn away in disappointment wasn’t helping his nerves either. This wasn’t his crowd, these were the elite of his school, so who’d sent the text?

He walked toward one of the large tables to sit and a woman placed her bag in the chair he had been planning to take. He shook it off. That was just one person. He moved on the bar where he found a familiar looking crowd of girls. They giggled when they saw him and handed things about themselves.

“Hey,” Hinata raised a hand in greeting, some girls waved back, smiling.

“Who are you again?” a girl in the back twirled her hair in her hand as she asked him. He recognized her well.

“It’s me, Hinata Shouyou, from math, and photojournalism.” he smiled brightly and some girls laughed again.

“Oh right, you’re that poor kid on the volleyball team,” Hinata’s face fell for a moment as the girls snickered but he tried not to let that bother him.

“Yeah, I was on the team with your boyfriend, he used to talk about you all the time. Are you two still together?” he wasn’t going to let anything shake him tonight.

“Yeah, we got married last fall. How about you did you meet anyone new? I’d honestly be surprised if you were married.”

“No, I’m not in a relationship right now, nor am I seeking one out at the moment, too much going on you know?” A woman he didn’t know pulled a chair over from another table and motioned for him to come sit. He did.

“That sounds boring… you know what is fun though?” the woman next to him asked.

“What?” Hinata shifted in his seat.

“Betting! We were doing it before you arrived, so I think you should join in.” 

“Okay, what are we betting on?” Hinata asked. At least this was a distraction from the popular crowd at the bar.

“Well, we were going to go find someone to try and drink this.” She held up a decanter. “All in one go. Whoever can do it gets three.”

“I’ll do it,” Hinata said eagerly, the women laughed again from behind him, this time louder.

“Alright, let me bring it over and then you can start.” She stood and walked towards Hinata, then handed him the carafe. He looked at it for a moment, then uncorked it and started drinking. It wasn’t pleasant.

This was some of the worst wine he’d ever tasted, and that was saying something. But he kept on, determined to finish the entire thing. About a third of the way in, the girls started clapping and cheering, getting the attention of almost the whole place. People were whistling and calling his name and it only made him try and drink faster.

He finished after a good minute and slammed down the bottle, a huge smile on his face. The girl dropped three coins on the table and Hinata’s heart practically stopped.

“Here you go, three hundred yen,” the crowd erupted in laughter and taunts. Hinata’s mind was fuzzy but he knew when to quit. He picked up the money and got up to leave. Suddenly, there were hands on his shoulders leading him out of the crowd from behind.

“Let’s go Shouyou,” Hinata felt no recognition in the voice.

“What are you doing?” he felt his face burning as people watched them.

“I’m taking you home. You’re drunk.” The man’s face was a blurry as everything else.

“I am not drunk!” people around them laughed as Hinata turned, effectively throwing aside the hands holding his shoulders. Now he knew who it was and it wasn’t exactly reassuring. It was old teammate from high school that Hinata had tried his best to avoid. 

“I can get home on my own.” Hinata tried to sound sure of himself but his knees were starting to wobble as the wine rushed through his system.

“Come on, let me take you home. For old times sake.”

“Ushijima, we were hardly friends,” Hinata turned and started walking to the exit. Ushijima grabbed his arm. “Let me go!”

“Don’t make a scene. Just come with me and you’ll be home in five minutes,” his voice was cold and Hinata was scared., but he was also smart enough to realize he needed to get out of there while he could still stand.

“Okay…” he agreed finally.

“Good. Let’s go,” Ushijima steered him out. The time between Hinata’s weakness and getting in the car was silent.

“Why’d you get tricked by those girls? Nothing like that would have happened back in high school,” Ushijima asked as he started his car.

Hinata sank in his seat. “I still don’t know.” Hinata admitted.

Ushijima slid his hand over Hinata’s knee and squeezed lightly. “Don’t know what?” he asked. 

Hinata batted his hand away, but his reactions felt like they were happening in slow motion. He was distracted by the lights of the other cars as Ushijima drove and he just wanted to be home now, in bed. Left in peace to pass out.

“Didn’t we date back then? I missed you. I was the one who texted you about the wine party because I wanted to see you,” Ushijima’s voice sounded so calm and sure.

Hinata turned to look out the window again, choosing not to say anything.

“Do you know what we call you?” Ushijima asked softly. “The pretty boy from a bad neighbourhood. Why did you have to be so pretty that I had trouble? If you weren’t from such a bad part of town, I’d be openly going out with you.”

“Ushijima, look… I’m just not-,” before Hinata could finish talking, Ushijima cut him off by pulling into a parking lot sharply. Looking out the window, he could tell they were at a hotel. When they pulled up to the valet and the other man got out, Hinata stayed put. Ushijima sighed, opened Hinata’s door and undid his seatbelt.

“Aren’t you getting out? Come on,” he reached for Hinata’s hand but Hinata swatted him away. “I just want to talk to you, get out.”

“If I’m getting out, it’ll be to walk home. I’m not going in there with you,” Hinata didn’t budge from his seat. He’d made his decision.

“I can see why you’d be shy, but don’t you think this is a bit much?” Ushijima reached for him again.

“I will be very clear. We never went out, you just wanted to sleep with me,” Hinata got out of the car and started walking away.

“Wait,” Ushijima growled.

“What?” Hinata spun around. The taller man threw something to him, he caught it and his heart beat faster once he knew what it was.

“That’s what you need right? Take it!” Ushijima was angry but still controlled. It made Hinata’s knees shake. With that, he got back in his car and drove away, leaving Hinata with a large sum of money rolled into a cylinder the size of Hinata’s fist.

Hinata slipped the money into his pocket and started walking again. The tears in his eyes threatened to spill but he at least was able to stop that. His pride was in shambles and there wasn’t anything he could do to help it.

It suddenly occurred to him exactly how drunk he was. That decanter had been large and he’d had it all. His mind was like a blur and was just so angry that he could barely focus. His walking slowed and he came to a stop. He looked up and the sky and let himself cry.

***

Kageyama leaned back in his seat, looking out the window. He couldn’t stop Hotaru’s words from repeating in his mind.

_Is there no one you love? I feel sorry for you. You don’t have anyone to love._

A flicker of orange caught his eye and he was pulled from his thoughts as he looked at the man crying on the sidewalk.

“Wait, stop the car,” Kageyama said, somewhat worried.

“Sure.” He didn’t take his eyes off the man as they pulled over and he got out. He walked to his side and got a good look at him.

“What are you doing here? I figured you’d be on your way home by now,” the man wiped his face, looking confused.

“Do you know me?”

“Not very well but yes,” the guy was drunk out of his mind, that much was obvious. “How much have you had to drink?”

“Why do you care how much I’ve had to drink?”

“Because it’ll look bad for the both of us if you’re seen here.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“What if you make headlines doing this? The marriage could be canceled,” Kageyama sighed as the other man smiled.

“Are you flirting with me? You’re lucky you’re cute. Anyway, I don't care about making headlines, that’s not a thing for me. Do what you want with me at this point,” he sat down on the ground and laid back, staring at what little stars he could see.


	3. Doppleganger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being so patient with us! We have a new blog so you can stay up to date with where we're at, here: http://haikyuu-masks-au.tumblr.com/

Kageyama couldn’t believe what was happening. Here he was walking into a hotel room, practically carrying his drunk and passed out finance. It was unbelievable considering who this man was. Hotaru never drank this much to his knowledge, and he certainly shouldn’t be out in public like this while his father was running for presidency. If the press got wind of it, the consequences would be devastating and not just for him, for the Kageyama Group as well. The circumstances were conflicting and none of it made sense to him.

Yet there they were.  Kageyama was holding Hotaru up to his side as best he could in a hotel room because he wasn’t exactly sure what to do. What do you do in a situation like that? Who do you call? In this case, he didn’t know. He’d wanted to walk away and leave Hotaru to his fate for being fool enough to lose control like that. Unfortunately, it would be bad for both of them if this went public so he’d done what he thought was safe and that meant keeping his dead drunk fiance off the streets.

“We agreed on two percent of the shares, you can’t go back on that now,” he snapped as he struggled to get them both through the mahogany door. Back in the elevator they’d begin to argue over money even though Kageyama was sure Hotaru would never remember. It felt good to have something say, some semblance of control in an out of control situation. 

Hotaru scoffed in his state of semi-awareness and Kageyama had to turn his head away from Hotaru’s sour breath.

“You should give me five. You’re such a petty man,” Hotaru mumbled as he slapped at his arm.

Kageyama rolled his eyes, kicking the door shut behind them. He aimed at the elegant sofa situated in the center of the room though he only managed another step before Hotaru slumped against him with all his weight, causing both of them to fall against the wall. Shaken by the tumble, Hotaru began to cough and gag. Vomit dribbled on Kageyama’s shoulder, setting him off.

“Wait, hold on! You can’t! Stop!” By the time he got the words out, Hotaru was already out again, a wretched lump on the beige carpet. Kageyama pushed himself up and away, running toward the bathroom, shedding his clothes along the way in a panic.

***

Hinata was woken by a feeling in the back of his throat. He tried to ignore it but it’s urgency pushed him to run for the bathroom. He didn’t notice the man in the shower and went straight for the toilet instead, relieving himself of his stomach’s contents. When he was done he laid his head on the seat and watched the clean white tiles spinning under him. He didn’t recognize the floor, which was weird, but didn’t feel entirely important. What was important was that his money had fallen from his pocket when he’d dashed went for the toilet. The roll was several feet away, which felt unsafe. That was too much money to leave rolling around a strange bathroom.

He quickly grabbed it and stared at it, thinking of where he could put in so it would be secure. His eyes swept the room he was in. Tile floor, tile wall, toilet, sink. Finally he spotted two bathrobes hanging next to the shower. Still not registering the other person in the room, he stood on unsteady feet and hurried to stuff the bundle of money inside the right pocket of the first robe.

“Secure,” he whispered to himself as he walked back to the toilet to lay down. The lid was cold against the heat of his cheek and soothing to his roiling stomach. As long as the money was safe, he didn’t care about anything but closing his eyes.

***

Kageyama was rinsing from his third all over scrub down when a clatter in the bathroom startled him. He quickly grabbed a towel and looked out for the source of the noise. He winced when he saw Hotaru passed out on the floor, his head pillowed on the toilet lid.

“What is with this?” he muttered, frustrated. Kageyama cast his eyes around for something to cover himself with. Across the room, hanging on the wall were two clean bathrobes. With the towel wrapped securely around his waist, Kageyama inched quietly toward the robe so as not to wake Hotaru. The floor was slick, and Kageyama’s nerves were jangled, so he slid right against the vanity upsetting the bottles of soap as he tried to stay on his feet.

It was hopeless. He’d left the safety of the rug and was still sopping wet; the robe just out of reach. He attempted to right himself again, aware that he needed to be dressed before Hotaru woke up and caught him, but in his haste, he slid again, this time right into Hotaru, waking him as they both tried to stay upright.

Kageyama wasn’t trying to knock Hotaru over and Hotaru surely hadn’t meant to pull at him, further unbalancing them both, but it was useless. They grappled briefly and in the process Kageyama lost his towel and ultimately ended up lying naked next to a somewhat aware and very confused looking Hotaru.

They had their arms wrapped around each other, neither moving in their shock. Hotaru gave him a slow up and down look that was mortifying. His mouth fell open, his cheeks coloring a deep red, surely as red as Kageyama’s must be. Hotaru was shocked, visibly, but then his expression softened. Kageyama had never seen him make such a face.

“Thank you, sir,” Hotaru slurred, and Kageyama didn’t want to guess what he was being thanked for. 

He untangled himself and grabbed for towel. When he looked back down, Hotaru was asleep once more, cheek pressed to the marble tiles.

Kageyama was absolutely mortified. This man he barely knew had just seen him completely naked. Outside the bathroom he wrapped the bathrobe around himself and ran his fingers through his wet hair in an attempt to think. He needed to go home. He needed to get away from Hotaru before they had to go through another humiliating encounter.

Hotaru was going to wake up with a terrible headache, especially since Kageyama was leaving him on the bathroom floor. He’d reasoned that anything was better than the sidewalk. At least the hotel room was private. After such a disgusting display, Kageyama couldn’t feel bad about it at all.

His face was still on fire and the looks the hotel staff gave him didn’t help. They looked at him like he wasn’t in his right mind. Sure, he was only wearing a bathrobe and slippers but that should be easily overlooked considering the circumstances. Not that anyone should ever know about said circumstances. By the time he got outside his driver was already waiting for him. The look on her face said it all.

“Hitoka, please don’t laugh,” Kageyama opened the passenger door and sat down inside the car.

“I wasn’t going to laugh,” Yachi said too quickly for Kageyama’s taste.

“Whatever. Just take us home,” He instructed. Yachi nodded, starting up the car.

“I only wanted to ask--” Yachi started, her voice a tad too high for normal.

“No. No questions. No laughing. Just driving.”

“Yes sir.” Yachi answered. Kageyama caught her pressing her lips together hard in the rearview mirror, though she didn’t say another word all the way back to the house.

By the time they got home, Kageyama was already dreading what the staff was going to whisper about him. He just knew they were going to talk about his appearance tonight for a very long time after this.

He stepped out of the car and the door attendant looked at him for a moment, visibly unsure of what to do. Kageyama felt a little bit like crying. This was embarrassing as hell.

The only thing he could do was hold his head high and march into the house, so he did exactly that, barely managing not to run to his wing of the house in order to avoid being seen by anyone in his family.

Finally back in his own clothes, Kageyama couldn’t stop thinking about Hotaru’s drunken episode. He’d said so many strange things that didn’t make any sense. He was honestly baffled by it. One thing in particular that bothered him was how Hotaru had been dressed. Earlier that day he’d been wearing something completely different. While it wasn’t exactly rare for him to change his clothes periodically during the day, it was strange that he would have been wearing something that wasn’t his style. He hadn’t been wearing a suit like he usually did.

Kageyama sat down on the edge of his bed, his mind playing over the scene again and again on an endless high definition loop of shame, wondering how he was ever going to face Hotaru again.

***

Hinata had to admit, this was definitely the weirdest situation he’d ever been in. He’d woken up lying on the floor of the fanciest hotel bathroom he’d ever seen and was now examining the trail of clothes leading to said bathroom. This was the part that confused him. 

He sat down on the bed and thought about the previous night. None of the clothes belonged to him and the ones he was wearing were from last night. It just didn’t make any sense. Why was he here? All he could remember was walking home that night and then there was a man. A vaguely familiar strange man who’d wanted to argue about everything. 

There was something teasing at the back of his thoughts that he felt he should feel embarrassed about, which was would be worrying except for the fact that he was still dressed. Wrinkled maybe from apparently sleeping on the floor, but dressed nonetheless.

He was quickly snapped out of these thoughts when he caught sight of the clock.

“Oh no,” he was going to be late again today. Very late.

When he finally got to work, the sight wasn’t promising. Kuroo was getting a verbal lashing from their boss in front of the store. Hinata couldn’t hear any of it but he was sure it had to do with him. While his boss was busy, Hinata snuck around to the other side of the entrance and walked to his station at the cash register. Kenma was at his side faster than he had noticed and he grabbed his hand.

“Your Mom is sick, they’ve been calling all day!” Kenma’s face was full of concern.

Hinata’s heart sped up as he took out his phone. He had missed calls from his sister and father. Just thinking of them trying to reach him and being unable made Hinata feel sick. He didn’t want to hear whatever they were going to tell him either because his mother had been doing so well recently. They’d all been so hopeful.

“Go, I’ll take care of your next shift.” Kenma told him.

“Thank you!” Hinata whispered as he slipped back around the counter and made for the door.

He tapped his sister's contact and pressed the call button as he rushed out of the store. The mall was already busy, so he had to swerve around patrons as he ran, waiting for the call to connect. In his haste, he ran right into a woman nearly toppling her over. He tried to steady her, his hands instead tangling in her shopping bags causing them to fall around them. The lady exclaimed and Hinata immediately knelt down to pick them up, his phone forgotten for the moment. Just as his knee hit the floor something rolled into his leg. A ring.

He picked it up carefully between his thumb and forefinger, thinking it might have rolled from one of the bags. Above him the woman was threatening to report him to his manager, who was thankfully no longer in sight. The ring was exquisite, platinum and diamond, and worth so much more than anything Hinata had ever owned.  

Standing up with the ring in hand, he came face to face with a peculiar sight. Right in front of him was a man who looked exactly like himself. The man was holding a magazine, his face slack with surprise as he stared down at Hinata. The magazine dropped to the floor at the same time he looked at the ring in Hinata’s hand.

It was shocking to see his face on another person and he honestly wasn’t sure what to do, so he held out the ring to the man and he took it. This man was dressed in a fine black suit, with crips straight lines and shiny black shoes. His hair was styled in a way Hinata had never managed, and though he was clearly as shocked as Hinata there was an air about him that was refined. After staring for a moment longer, the man left without looking back, seeming almost dazed.

Hinata bent back down and picked up the last of the shopping bags. He didn’t have time for this, he had to go. He didn’t know what else the woman said to him, if anything, and he didn’t think again about the man who looked just like him. His head hurt, his stomach was knotted, and he wanted to see his mother.

When he made it to the hospital, his father was standing outside his mother’s room, waiting. Hinata went straight into the room, nearly brought to tears at the sight of his mother lying on the hospital bed. Her lips were pale, her skin ashen against the stark white of the hospital bedding.

“Where have you been? We were all so worried when you didn’t come home last night,” Hinata’s father said as he put his hand on his shoulder.

“I stayed the night with Kenma. How’s Mom?” Hinata asked, whispering. Hs father’s face fell.

“Not well. She had another relapse last night, this one is particularly bad.”

“Oh…,” Hinata couldn’t hide his grief. He was certainly shaken by the situation.

“You know, Natsu said she wanted to see you. She said she’d be back soon.”

“Where is she?” Hinata played with the edge of the blanket, watching his mother's chest rise and fall.

“I don’t know, she just said she’d be back in about an hour or so.” His father sat down in the chair beside the bed, wringing his hands, distracted.

“I’ll call her.” Hinata said, and he slipped back out of the room into the hall.

He pulled up her name and hit the call button, shifting from one foot to the other as he waited for her to answer.

“Where have you been?” Natsu asked the moment the call connected.

“I was at Kenma’s, my phone was off. Where are you now? Dad said you wanted to talk to me. Why aren’t you here?” Hinata fired off the questions as fast as he could think them.

“Someone has to do something, Hinata. Dad was talking about taking mom home because we won’t be able to pay the hospital bill,” Hinata tensed.

“What are you talking about? Where are you?” Hinata couldn’t shake his sense that something was very wrong.

“I’m at the bank,” Natsu said, trying to be nonchalant.

“What at the bank can help us? Please just come back,” he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Don’t sound so worried, it’ll be okay. I’ll be back soon and everything will be fine,” now he was sure something bad was going to happen

“Natsu, please.” Hinata’s stomach was twisting in on itself. 

“What are you thinking I’m going to do? Rob the bank?” She scoffed nervously.

“You wouldn’t, would you? You couldn’t.” Hinata wanted to sound sure of himself but he wasn’t sure of much at all lately. Everything was spiraling out of control and he needed Natsu right here where he could see her and be sure she wasn’t about to do something reckless.

“Mom needs to stay there and get help,” Natsu hedged.

“Meet me back at the hospital. Now, right now.” Hinata hung up and sat down in one of the chairs, slumping into it.

“Is everything okay?” His father asked worriedly.

“I don’t actually know,” he ran his hands through his hair.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

It was quiet for a while after that. Neither wanting to break the silence. A sound from the bed was snapped them both from their thoughts. His mother was sitting up blinking at them.

“I’ll go get the doctor!” Hinata’s father was out the door before anyone could say anything.

“Mom!” Hinata reaches for her hands and they are immediately enveloped between hers. “You had us worried, what happened, I thought things were getting better?”

“I just worked too hard, you know how I am. You’re as bad as me.” She smiled at him, trying to reassure him.

It worked, maybe a little. They did both have the tendency to go and go until they dropped. Thinking of work reminded him he had a question. “Hey mom, I wasn’t a twin ever, right?”

His mom’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “No. What makes you ask?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we were too poor for two babies so one had to be given to an adoption agency. That would makes sense.” Hinata was trying his best to sound completely non judgemental.

“Hinata, no. You’re not a twin. That’s not something I’d just keep from you. If you think about it, I think you’d know that.” She was squeezing his hand.

He did. He did know that. Both of his parents were open about their family history. It didn’t make sense though. The man he’d seen in the mall. It was like looking into a mirror. A magic mirror even. One that showed you what things could be like if only you weren’t working hard just to make ends meet. If only your mother didn’t work herself so hard trying to keep their family afloat that she made herself sick and landed in the hospital.

“You’re right, I know you are, I was just curious.” Hinata assured her.

The doctor came in then with his father and Hinata stepped out into the hall to give his parents some privacy and wait for Natsu. Whatever she’d been up to, he just wanted her here. He wanted her to be safe.

***

The clacking of silverware on china was the only sound in the dining room for a solid fifteen minutes. Kageyama preferred it that way on days when his nerves were already on edge. Navigating a family meal could be a little like picking your way through a minefield. He was skilled enough at it, but today he was enjoying the quiet.

“Do we have a date yet?” His father asked, not looking up from his plate. 

So much for enjoying the silence. “We do.” Kageyama didn’t feel particularly moved to enlighten anyone further. It ought to be on everyone’s calendars by now anyway. At some point his father’s secretary would tell him.

“You’ve met him, then. What did you think?” His father set his fork aside, so Kageyama did the same. Apparently they were going to have a conversation.

“I think he’ll make a challenging partner.” Kageyama began. “I’m looking at the marriage as a test for my strength and leadership. I won’t kneel, father.”

This satisfied his father, who took up eating once more.

“I can’t believe you’re going through with it. What kind of marriage can you have when you just met the man?” Tsukishima was glaring from across the table.

“The arranged kind. We all know what this merger means for the family.” Kageyama told his brother diplomatically.

“It’s absurd. You have no idea what kind of man he might be and now you’re marrying him and moving him in and planning to adopt. It may be the lamest thing you’ve ever done.” Tsukishima crossed his arms and leaned away from the table.

Kageyama had heard some of this from him before, but he hadn’t known it was such a major issue for him. He was just doing what their father asked. Hotaru’s father was running for president and he had close ties with many important people that could offer a layer of protection for the Kageyama Group. Protecting the company was the same as protecting the family so he had every intention of following through. Ultimately it didn’t matter what type of person his husband was. He would fall in line or Kageyama would threaten to disgrace him.

“I’m doing what I’m told because it’s the best thing for the family. I don’t need time to think it through. I’ve already signed the contract. The wedding is going forward. You can be supportive or not, that’s your choice.” Kageyama attempted to eat again but was interrupted by his step mother.

“It’s a shame your mother won’t be there to see you, Tobio. I’m sure she’d be proud. It makes me sad just thinking of it.”

Kageyama’s appetite was gone. His step mother was smiling fondly at him, but it left his insides cold. He could never tell if she was being sincere or if she was politely trying to destroy his peace of mind on a daily basis. His gut told him she didn’t have a sincere bone in her body.

His father didn’t want to hear it either, because in the next moment his fork clattered to his plate and he was on his feet without a word of departure to any of them. Kageyama followed leaving his step mother, brother, and brother-in-law behind to talk about his upcoming wedding on their own.

***

After dinner, Oikawa left his husband and mother in law to their evening walk. He’d had enough talk of the upcoming wedding. On the way to his room, a pair of voices caught his attention. He’d normally ignore the help entirely, but the words bathrobe and Kageyama had him stepping closer to listen.

“Why would he carry that kind of cash around, though? It makes no sense. Unless it makes a lot of sense.” Tanaka, the butler was whispering, but his version of a whisper wasn’t exactly quiet.

“I hope you’re not trying to imply something illegal, Tanaka. There must be an explanation. I’ll take it to him and tell him where I found it.” The head maid, Kyoko sounded very decisive. 

Oikawa needed to step in. He stepped into the room and strode purposefully toward the pair who’d immediately stopped to bow. Kyoko held a large roll of cash bound with a rubber band of all things in her hand. He could see that she was trying to conceal it, and smiled as pleasantly as he could.

“Where did you say you found that?” He asked her, pointing to the money.

Kyoko straightened up, her lips pursed. “It was in the Master Kageyama’s bathrobe.”

“Well, then, I’ll give it back to him,” he told her holding out his hand to wait.

She appeared to hesitate, which Oikawa didn’t appreciate. He kept his smile in place and stared her down. After another moment she passed the wad of bills over with another little bow. Oikawa left them to whisper behind his back and headed straight for his room, pocketing the cash. It was a mystery that needed looking into.

Upstairs, he pushed through the double door to his and Tsukishima’s suite only to find his husband back early from his walk and part way through a bottle of red wine. He was leaning heavily on the arm of their sofa, tossing back the rest of the red liquid in his glass with a slight frown. Oikawa shut the door behind him and crossed the room until he was looking down on Tsukishima. He kept his face as neutral as possible as he spoke.

“Did something happen?” He waited, but Tsukishima was slow to respond. Rather he chose to pour another glass before even looking up.

“Do you believe the rumors?” Tsukishima asked.

Oikawa waited for him to elaborate.

“Do you think I want to take the company from my brother? That I want to see him ruined?” Tsukishima continued. He raised one eyebrow at Oikawa, clearly expecting a response.

“People will gossip about anything. You can’t listen to them. I know you don’t want anything to do with the company,” he tries to sound reassuring.

“He believes it, I really think he does.” Tsukishima stands, leaving his glass on the coffee table with a heavy clunk.

“It doesn’t matter what Tobio thinks. He isn’t in his right mind. Everyone knows that. Besides, I know the truth. I love you.” Oikawa ran his hand up the sleeve of Tsukishima’s silk shirt and rested it on his shoulder.

Tsukishima looked away. “Liar.” he said simply.

Oikawa put his other hand on Tsukishima’s other shoulder in an attempt to get him to look at him again. When Tsukishima looked up there was something in his eyes that Oikawa hadn’t expected to see. It wasn’t hurt or anger exactly.

“Why did I have to marry a man like you? A man that lies. You think you’re so charming. That you can just smile and the world will bow down at your feet. You haven’t fooled me for a second.” Tsukishima looked him dead in the eye as he spoke. 

It made Oikawa bristle. “What about me? You think I wanted to marry a man that drinks too much whenever things get difficult? A man who’s always suspicious, always running so hot and cold?”

Tsukishima glared at him. “Do you regret it then?”

“Yes,” Oikawa says softly. “I regret not finding you and marrying you sooner.”

Tsukishima is surprised by that, but before he can open his mouth to respond, Oikawa slips one hand into his hair and pulls him in tight, kissing him, crushing him and refusing to let up. He shoves Tsukishima down on the couch, climbing over him, kissing him again and again until there is no more tension in Tsukishima’s body, just pliant limbs and lips and submission.

 


	4. The Death of Takahashi Hotaru

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After some discussion we've decided to update the tags to reflect a major character death. In the beginning we didn't consider that this character would be a major character in this story or that the death would have a major impact. We hope that this doesn't put any of you off, we weren't not trying to slip that by anyone. When it comes time for that chapter we will put spoilers in the end notes with more detail. Thank you all for your support and wonderful comments!

While Kageyama was glad his psychiatrist made house calls, he still didn’t think he needed one. He hated the hush hush tone his parents put on when they discussed his weekly meetings. The whole situation seemed to be stacked against him and he hated it. They never got around to talking about anything important, like how to deal with things day to day. How to be sure he was sleeping. How he was going to live and improve. Not once was he ever asked how he thought his treatment was going.

By the time he tuned back into what the other man was saying, he was already done speaking. Kageyama couldn’t tell if he was supposed to respond so all he managed to do was nod.

“So you _have_  been seeing things then?” Kageyama shook his head furiously. Even though it wasn’t the truth, he didn’t want to see this man ever again. “You’re giving me some pretty mixed signals here, I need some clarification.”

“I’m not seeing anything anymore, the medication is helping. I feel a lot better,” he said, the lies coming easily.

“And the delusions? Would you say you still have trouble finding the truth surrounding your mother’s death?” The psychiatrist was leaning toward him. Though his face remained passive, it felt predatory to Kageyama. Like he was more than interested. Like he found the whole thing thrilling. Kageyama shook his head to dispel the feeling.

“No, her death was an accident and there was nothing I could’ve done,” he wondered if he should feel bad for not telling the truth in these sessions. He wanted out of it, but was that making it worse?

“Hmm. Tobio, I’m going to ask you a real question and I want a real answer. It might be hard but I need you to answer,” Kageyama was shaken by this but nodded anyway. His pride only slightly damaged by being seen through. “Have you really been taking your medication?

“Yes.” Kageyama told him. Another lie. The medication left him drowsy and more confused than when he didn’t take it. He couldn’t tell what was real or what wasn’t. Besides he wasn’t crazy. There really was a lot of pressure to obey his father and not let him down and there was quite a bit of proof that his mother’s death was purposeful. Medication wouldn’t make that go away. It didn’t stop his nightmares, his fears. He didn’t need it. He needed to be left alone.

“Show me the bottle, please.” He said firmly. 

He waited while Kageyama reluctantly drew the bottles out of his drawer. Both were full, clearly untouched since last week. Kageyama’s legs and hands began to shake, his body to vibrate. He couldn’t do this.

“Tobio. I know it’s hard to trust me, and I know it’s frustrating to do something over and over again when you can’t tell it’s working, but you have to give the medicine time to get into your system. That means taking it every day. I want you to take it every day three times a day for two weeks before we can decide if it’s helping or not.” The doctor was firm, but Kageyama stopped listening. He wasn’t crazy!

“I’m not crazy.” He said. The doctor didn’t say anything, so he repeated himself. “I’m not crazy!” He shouted. Then he couldn’t help it. He was so angry it came pouring out of him again and again. “I’m not crazy, I’m not!” He wasn’t even seeing anything anymore. Just feeling overwhelmed and ignored, releasing all of his emotions in a stream of vile. He tore out of his chair and threw the coffee table over, breaking the glass. It felt so good not to stay closed off, just to give in and let it out.

At some point Tsukishima and Oikawa came in and Tsukishima’s voice was the one that broke through at last. He found himself on the floor kneeling in the broken glass with Tsukishima standing over him “Tobio,”  he pleaded sounding even more disappointed than usual.

Kageyama didn’t know what his brother was pleading for, but he quieted, suddenly ashamed at his behavior. He’d begun to cry but couldn't remember when. Oikawa was watching him from across the room as he directed Kyoko to bring in a glass of water. They all stood around while he took his medicine, hands shaking the entire time. He hated it. He hated all of it, but more than anything he hated how weak it made him look in front of Oikawa and Tsukishima.

***

The minute Hinata saw Natsu step of the elevator he pushed himself off the wall in the hallway. “Where have you been? How could you just leave Mom like that? What were you doing? Do you even think anymore? You scared me to death!” He didn’t let her answer as he hit her arm with each question for emphasis. A couple of nurses walked past, but they only looked, neither tried to stop him.

Natsu was dressed all in black, with a black hoodie too and it scared him just how much she looked like a potential bank robber. He wanted to hurt her and hug her and make her promise never to even think about doing anything so stupid again.

“Just tell me what happened.” He said finally.

“Nothing happened. I couldn’t do it.” She admitted softly, her normally fierce eyes downcast.

“Natsu, you can’t. That’s not going to help us. You’d just wind up in prison and then who would help with mom? You have to think about these things!” Hinata had one hand fisted in her sleeve and he never wanted to let go.

She nodded and then reached into the backpack she was carrying. Carefully, turning to keep it hidden, she pulled out a gun and handed it over to Hinata. His eyes went wide from shock as he glanced around to make sure no one was watching them.

“Are you kidding me with this, what the hell?” Hinata whispered furiously.

“It’s not real.” Natsu explained.

HInata dumped it into the trash beside them with a shudder. “Promise me. No more crazy schemes. We’ll think of something, together, okay?” When she nodded again he grabbed her into a crushing hug and held on as tight as he could. He was worried too. Not just for her but for their mom; their family. How were they going to get by when their main bread winner kept working herself to the point of exhaustion?

He pulled back, suddenly remembering. “I have the money for this month’s interest. We’ll put that toward the hospital bills and I’ll come up with the interest again.” But as he said this he reached into his pocket and came up empty. He hurried to check all of his pockets, but the roll of money was gone. It must have fallen out at some point, maybe back at the hotel. Shit!

“Your mom is asking for you, Natsu.” Their dad came out, sending Natsu in. “Shouyou, we need to talk.” He said.

He motioned for Hinata to follow him a little further away from the hospital room. Hinata worried for a moment that his parents might have overheard what he and Natsu were talking about. 

“The doctor told me this episode was due to stress. He’s ordered a couple of other tests, but your mother is refusing them.” His father’s hands twisted together as he spoke. 

“If she’s stressed it’s your fault. You and the loan sharks!” Hinata didn’t mean to raise his voice. He’d thought his mother was just tired and needed to be rehydrated. That has happened before. Stress is different, though. He knows just enough about it to be worried and he knows who to blame, too.

“Shouyou, I know things haven’t been great--”

“Haven’t been great? Mom is in the hospital! What if the stress had given her a heart attack? It could kill her! Why do we have to live like this? They came to my work. Did you know that? Those men cornered me at the store and threatened me. What if they’ve been threatening Mom too? Or Natsu? How are we supposed to ever get away from them? You did this to us!” Hinata pointed toward his mother’s hospital room. “You did that to her. I wish I didn’t have a father like you!”

His dad began to cry then and reached for him, but Hinata was too angry. He tore away and ran down the hall. He wanted away from his dad. He wanted away from his life, but he had no hope and no way to change anything. 

***

“I’m not crazy!” Kageyama woke from a nightmare, sweat drenched and exhausted. He found himself in bed, in the dark, but couldn’t remember anything but his family surrounding him while he fell to pieces on the floor. 

“You are crazy.” The whisper from his dream followed him into the waking world and it sounded so real that for a moment, Kageyama held his breath, searching in the dark for the source. No one was in the room with him.

“I’m not crazy.” He whispered back, testing it out. He was awake, he was sure of it.

“You’re crazy. You’re insane. You are dangerous.”

He threw back his duvet and stood, hands over his ears as though to block the sound.

“You’re going to hurt someone. You’re crazy, Tobio! Crazy!”

Kageyama hurried to grab the remote for the stereo and turned it on trying to drown the voice out with music. It wasn’t working at first, so he turned up the volume until he couldn’t hear anything but the pounding bass. Finally the voice was silent.

He slumped against the window sill eyes slipping closed, drained and shaking. When he opened his eyes he saw something out in the pool. It was a woman, floating, dead! He squinted in the dark to see more detail but the moon wasn’t bright enough. He didn’t bother trying to see who it was, his room was too far away. Instead he raced out of his room, past the maid in the hall and out the back way toward the pool. The stone steps outside were cold under his feet, but he barely felt it as he ran. By the time he made it to the pool he was being followed by several staff members including Tanaka, the head butler and Kyoko, the head maid. Behind them came his step mother.

Kageyama didn’t pay them any mind, he was too busy staring at the empty pool. He’d run all the way here, there was no time for someone to move the body. He fell to his knees. “I saw her, I was so sure, I saw her,” he mumbled. 

“Tobio, it’s normal. You know that, right? What you’ve been through, anyone who lost their mother that way would react the way you do,” she rubbed small circles on his back and he let her. She’d rarely ever touched him, because he never allowed it, but here, breaking down by the lapping water, he let her.

Kageyama could feel the tears streaking down his cheeks, but he didn’t bother wiping them away. He just nodded to his stepmother who helped him to his feet.

“This never happened. Don’t tell the chairman. Understood?” She directed this order to the staff who all agreed and bowed, taking their leave.

“Let’s go back in, Tobio. You should rest.” 

Kageyama let her lead him back inside and only looked back once to see the empty pool gleaming under the moonlight one last time. Inside, he sat on his sofa and pulled the bottle of medicine out. He took his dose quickly, not giving himself time to think about it, swallowing it down with a gulp of water before going back to bed.

*** 

“I don’t see anything over here either,” the maids helping Hinata look for the money hadn’t been able to find it and Hinata was more than a little stressed out. How was he going to explain this? That he’d gone out and gotten drunk only to find himself in a hotel room with a strange man who had probably taken his money?

No way. He couldn’t ever tell anyone that. Even if he did find the money he was never going to tell anybody exactly what happened.

Sighing, he looked up at the ceiling and then ducked under the coffee table to check for the lost money. Hinata was about to get up empty handed before he noticed a small metal case under the edge of the sofa. He stood and walked over to it, reaching down to get it.

“Did you find it, sir?” Asked one of the maids hopefully. Hinata shook his head and opened the case. Inside was a stack of business cards, his heart soared at the thought of being able to find the man from the other night. He turned one over and his heart nearly stopped. The business card was for a name he knew well.

“ _ Kageyama Tobio of the Kageyama Group. _ ”

***

The music was a little loud for Kageyama’s taste, and the location, by the pool, left much to be desired. Still, he ate his food bite by bite and tried not to look too put off by the whole thing. Hotaru was acting as if nothing had happened between them. He didn’t mention the hotel or being drunk and the charade was beginning to put Kageyama on edge.

He watched silently as the maid poured wine from a fresh bottle into Hotaru’s glass and tried not to be disgusted by the man. He was tired, after last night, and he wanted the lunch to be over already.

At least they weren’t sitting side by side. The long food laden table between them made it easier to focus on the quartet or the wine or even the staff lined up to the side waiting for orders. It didn’t last, though. Kageyama couldn’t stand Hotaru sitting there looking so put out, like he couldn’t even be bothered to have lunch at his future home after everything Kageyama did for him the other night.

“You’re staring. Why?” Hotaru asked suddenly.

“Do you remember anything from the other night?” Kageyama asked. Hotaru looked at him blankly and took another sip of wine.

“You’re right. Maybe we shouldn’t talk about it. I just wanted to make it clear that it was a one time event. Don’t do anything to embarrass myself or this family again and expect me to clean it up for you. You’ll be violating our contract, and I will end it.” Kageyama said this as calmly as possible, even though just looking at Hotaru’s smug face was making him angry.

“What are you talking about?” Hotaru narrowed his eyes at Kageyama.

He stood, tossing his napkin over his plate, and walked down the table to stand over Hotaru. For his part, Hotaru hardly moved. He peered up at Kageyama unperturbed. “Maybe you need help remembering.” Kageyama suggested. 

Hotaru squinted up at him and lifted his glass for another sip. Kageyama was caught looking at his hand. The hand that had a scrape on it the other night from falling on the sidewalk. Now it was completely free of any blemish. He couldn’t help himself, he moved without thinking, he reached out to run a finger over Hotaru’s pale knuckles.

Hotaru slapped his hand away. “Did you forget our contract already? Do you want to be prosecuted?” Kageyama stepped back as he realized his mistake. He wasn’t supposed to touch Hotaru, ever. 

“You’re not going to win any allies like this,” Tsukishima said as he walked up. Kageyama didn’t know how much his brother had seen. He felt torn between being relieved to have the interruption and annoyed because Tsukishima had made it very plain from the beginning he was against this marriage. Kageyama didn’t need him here making things harder.

Hotaru hadn’t moved. He was still sipping his wine without a care in the world. Kageyama bristled at his attitude.

“I won’t welcome you into the family. So tell me, what’s your plan? How will you survive here with no one to lean on?” Tsukishima crossed his arms, looking down at Hotaru as he spoke. 

“Leave us, everyone.” Oikawa ordered as he joined them poolside. The string quartet stopped playing and everything went quiet as they walked out. The staffed bowed and filed away as well until only the four of them stood alone by the pool.

All the while Hotaru sat silently, unruffled in the most annoying manner, sipping his wine. “I have no need for friends or allies here. I don’t need to care about Tobio to keep my end of the contract. This is a business deal. If it fails, my father will simply look for another supporter for his campaign. What will your father do? How will he avoid prosecution without my father’s protection? He needs us more than we need him, I think. If he wants to stay out of jail.” Hotaru said, glancing up at Tsukishima with the faintest smile. 

The sun gleamed off Hotaru’s crisp blue suit. It made him look young and blameless somehow. Kageyama had almost all he can take of all of it. Hotaru looked so put together as he sat there practically threatening Kageyama’s father.

“We have plenty of support, plenty of people on the prosecution back our father” Tsukishima, in a rare moment, lost his control, and made to move toward Hotaru, but Oikawa restrained him.

“Enough. We’re leaving,” Oikawa gave Kageyama a look he couldn’t read before bowing politely to Hotaru and pulling Tsukishima away by the arm.

Once they were both gone Kageyama sighed into his hands. “If you’re still satisfied with the contract, we should set a date.

“Ask my secretary. I’ll only need one day for the wedding. It shouldn’t be that difficult.” Hotaru told him.

“Fine. I’ll have my secretary call yours.” Kageyama agreed. He was beginning to have a headache and the sun bouncing off the pool wasn’t helping. It was making him feel short tempered with Hotaru; more so than usual.

Hotaru’s laugh took him completely by surprise. “It’s funny, isn’t it?” He asked.

“What?” Kageyama didn’t see anything funny about any of it.

“The way we both are, cutting this deal, doing what our father’s ask of us, setting it up with our secretaries. All of it. It must be because we’re both children of kept women. I heard that about you, too. My mother won’t be coming. She left me a long time ago. I’ve never understood that.” Hotaru said. He lifted his eyes to Kageyama’s once more. “Why do people say if you love them you should let them go? Shouldn’t you protect them to the very end? Will your mother be there? Will I get to meet her?”

Kageyama didn’t remember moving closer, but he was standing over Hotaru, glaring down at him. He stepped closer still, reaching for Hotaru, wanting him to go away more than anything else. His hand hit the edge of Hotaru’s plate instead, sending the knife clattering to the ground. Why does everything have to be this way? Why is it so hard? Why Hotaru of all people?

***

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Oikawa came into the solarium and found Tsukishima at the the sink washing his hands. The sun streamed through the tall windows filling the room with warmth that radiated off all of the plants. It was quiet here at the back of the house with everyone else off attending other business. “What are you doing in here?” He asked.

“I needed to be alone for a minute.” Tsukishima answered, drying his hands. He didn’t turn, he was still facing the far window away from Oikawa. 

“You don’t have to be so delicate, that’s not like you.” Oikawa crossed the room, weaving through the furniture and potted ferns to reach him. “Hotaru had every right to be defensive after you told him he wasn’t welcome and would have no allies,” Oikawa’s voice was a soothing tone, but Tsukishima was still obviously angry.

He reached for Tsukishima’s arm, running his hand down it, trying to turn Tsukishima, but his husband jerked free of him. He did finally turn though and Oikawa could see that he was furious. 

“Don’t do that! Don’t take his side! You’re not supposed to ever take anyone else’s side against me!” Tsukishima’s face was red with anger. “No matter what I’ve done.” He insisted. “Even if I killed someone, you’d have to be on my side, do you understand?”

Oikawa’s mouth opened to answer, but he was interrupted by a scream coming from outside. They both turned to face the windows at the same time. There in the pool was Hotaru. He was struggling to stay above the water, arms thrashing.

Oikawa ran. He didn’t think he just ran, down the hall, out the back door, down the stone steps to the pool level as fast as he feet can carry him.

***

Hinata’s thumb paused over the last digit as he dialed the number on the card. He was nervous but he had to do this. It was his only chance of getting that money back. He went to type in the number again but hesitated. He brought his hand to his forehead and sighed, pacing slowly.

This was harder than he had thought it would be. It seemed like such a simple task but he was really afraid of what the man would be like. He was mostly afraid of losing his job, though. Hinata had been working in the Kageyama Group’s department store for two years now. It was a good job and he didn’t want to have to try and get a new one.

Steeling his nerves, Hinata pulled the dial pad back up ready to call the number. Bravely, he typed it in and pressed the call button, placing his phone next to his ear with a serious look on his face.

No one answered.

Frowning, he re-dialed the number and called it again.

No answer.

He shoved the phone back into his pocket and walked to his station sourly. He’d try again later or something.

***

Kageyama’s head swam, all at once there were too many and too little thoughts going through his head. His body felt like it weighed more than anything he had ever lifted and he just couldn’t stop watching the body in the pool. Hotaru, his fiancé, floating in the water, eyes fixed on the sky above them, unblinking, dead.

The blueness of the scene really stuck out to him. The water, the sky, and Hotaru’s new suit. All the same shade of freshly pressed baby blue. 

That train of thought was shattered by the sound of several pairs of running feet. His phone started to buzz as he watched his brother and his husband run with staff members towards him and Hotaru. The whole situation had his head pounding so Kageyama laid his head on the pavement where he laid and watched Oikawa give him a look and dive after the dead man.

Once more, he was struck by the blueness of it all.


	5. The Boy Who Lives in the Past

Hotaru floated on the water face up, limbs relaxed, eyes blank. The world blurred around the edges and Kageyama remembered his mother looked much the same when she’d drowned. Peaceful. Empty. Gone.

Kageyama distantly watched as Oikawa pulled Hotaru from the water and laid him out on the concrete, checking for a pulse or a breath before beginning mouth to mouth. Everything was so quiet and all he could hear was the ringing in his ears. It was like a pressure that needed releasing. Hotaru wasn’t jerking awake. Oikawa continued to pump his chest and breathe for him. The pressure in Kageyama’s ears popped when the sirens pulled up on the other side of the house. Then the world went black.

***

“It’s too late. We could keep him alive, technically. However his brain was deprived of oxygen for too long. He won’t recover from this. If only he’d gotten here a few minutes sooner.” The doctor’s voice was professional, but Oikawa could hear his honest sorrow. No one could save Hotaru. He was gone.

“That information doesn’t leave this room. Do we understand one another?” He doesn’t look at the young doctor as he says this, but at his assistant, Iwaizumi, who nodded back once. 

Iwaizumi had an envelope for the doctor, one Oikawa was sure he’d accept. He didn’t watch the transaction. His eyes were on Hotaru and the machine that was breathing for him. His face was perfectly peaceful, almost as though he was sleeping. After the door closes behind the doctor and Iwaizumi, Oikawa sat beside the bed allowing himself this one moment to reflect.

They’d only just had dinner last night. Hotaru’s apartment was across the city so it was easy to come and go. It was the best place for them to spend time alone. Once Hotaru was married, it might be a long time before they could enjoy a meal in private with one another so they’d celebrated and stayed talking long into the night. He remembered Hotaru had an interesting story about a man he’d seen at the mall.

***

“He looked just like me. I’ve never seen anything like it before. He could have been me, if he hadn’t looked so poor and downtrodden kneeling there on the ground like a servant. I was so shocked I couldn’t say a word. I just turned and left.” Hotaru shuddered slightly and Oikawa had teased him for it.

“You know what they say about doppelgangers don’t you?” Oikawa laughed, but Hotaru just shook his head. “Tell me, who saw who first?” Oikawa asked.

Hotaru set his glass down, his lips pressed together thoughtfully. “I saw him first.” 

“Well, they say the one who sees their doppelganger first is the first to die.” Oikawa smirked and Hotaru’s face went carefully blank. “Though maybe he wasn’t your doppelganger. Maybe he’s your long lost twin.” He offered.

The seriousness left Hotaru’s eyes and he laughed. “If that were the case, a scandal like that would be enough to stop my father’s campaign. And the wedding too, I’d bet. Maybe I should call the reporters myself and break the story. Then I wouldn’t have to go through with it.”

Then Oikawa stopped smiling. “You realize how important this wedding is, right?”

“Who is it most important to?” Hotaru countered. “Maybe I don’t have to be the one to go through with it. Kageyama Tobio is completely unlikable. I don’t think it will be very easy to pretend to care for him. Maybe I could get this other person to do it for me. He looked like the type who could be bribed.”

“You can’t be serious. This is too important to put in the hands of some imposter. There’s a reason it has to be you.” Oikawa insisted.

“Have you considered what this is going to be like for me? How will I stand living in that house with you, seeing you every day, and not being able to even talk to you? Never being able to touch you? I’ll go crazy!” 

Hotaru had been upset, much more than Oikawa had realized. Even after he’d tried to soothe Hotaru’s fears, there was a tension that hadn’t left him for the rest of the night. And now Hotaru was gone.

***

“Find the man from the mall no matter what it takes,” Oikawa demanded. Iwazumi nodded and left the room to gather his team.

***

“Be firm,” Kenma advised, looking over Hinata’s shoulder as he texted Kageyama Tobio.

_ We need to talk. Immediately. Call me as soon as you can. _

_ I want to talk about the other night. Please call. _

_ It’s important. I’d like to speak to you. _

Hinata had been calling off and on and now he was trying texting, but there was never a response. He needed to get that money, but first he needed to make contact. 

***

Kageyama’s head was much clearer when his brother came into his room. He still had a pounding headache, but Kei’s voice was pitched low, presumably so the staff won’t overhear what he was saying.

“Tooru’s at the hospital with Hotaru right now and the doctor says he’ll make a full recovery soon. You don’t have anything to worry about. Tooru is keeping everything private and quiet, and he’s promised me he will handle everything.” Kei leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms as Kageyama’s phone began ringing for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. “You really don’t remember anything?” He asked. His voice was edged with something like skepticism. 

Kageyama glanced at the phone and grabbed it quickly, raising it above his head as if to throw it. Kei stepped back and sucked in a breath. He didn’t throw the phone, not that Kei looked like he felt any safer. Kageyama snapped.

“I did it alright? I hurt him! What happened to him is because of me! That’s what you want me to say, right? You want me to admit it even if it wasn't true.”

***

“If he won’t talk to you, you need to file a police report.” Kenma said it like it was no big deal to accuse your boss’s boss, the big boss’s son, of stealing from you. 

Thankfully their store was empty and no one was around to overhear their conversation. Outside, in the mall, the early shoppers all had caffeine on their mind or getting in their walking before the serious shopping started. The hum of soft chatter barely reached inside the store. No one glanced their way.

Hinata was thankful for all of that because right now he was tired and hungover and yes he needed that money, but he had other reasons for not calling the police. Reasons that had to do with a very naked man he keeps getting flashes of in his head. Even though he himself was clothed all night, he’s almost certain anyway, it was too humiliating. How was he supposed to explain to the cops what he was doing in the hotel? How could he say any of it with a straight face? He doesn’t even know Kageyama Tobio and now they, what? Spent the night together? Hinata was pretty sure that wasn’t the whole story. So what about the money? If only he could remember something other than flashes he might have a chance of figuring it out.

“You really don’t remember what happened? Nothing?” Kenma prompted, his eyes narrowing on Hinata.

The room felt too warm and Kenma’s gaze was just a little too knowing for Hinata’s taste. He shook his head, no, then moved away to resume his task of wiping down the shelves.

“I’m giving you the morning. If he still hasn’t contacted you by this afternoon, you need to call him again. Don’t just drop it because of who he is, Shouyou.”

Hinata could only nod mutely. Kenma was right, he couldn’t drop it. He had to get the money back.

***

“The security footage is ready,” Kageyama’s stepmother announced to them. Kei had stayed, even after his psychiatrist arrived. They’d all sat silently waiting in the sitting area of his bedroom. She looked over at him, “It would be best for him to watch it later, wouldn’t it?” She asked, addressing the doctor.

“We could watch it now and once we know what happened, he could see it,” Kageyama grimaced as the doctor said it.

“I want to see it now so I could find out if I have the willpower to fix it or not. Please,” he interrupted. Kageyama couldn’t stand everyone talking like he wasn’t there, or wasn’t capable of even watching the security footage.

“Alright but you must be prepared to take responsibility for whatever happens, whether you like it or not,” the doctor agreed.

“I will.” Kageyama tried to sound as firm as possible as he stood.

The small group started for the stairs and as they walked, his psychiatrist tried making small talk with his stepmother. He was largely unsuccessful.

Kageyama had recently come to hate walking down the stairs. His eyesight swam when he looked down at his feet and he felt dizzy. He constantly found himself in need of the railing.

“Are you sure you don’t want to just lay down?” His stepmother’s tone was scrutinising. Kageyama tore his bodyweight from the railing and forced himself down the stairs. He’d be damned if he ever gave in to any of them. He made it to the doors of the main room and flung them open as everyone watched him walk over to one of the chairs. He didn’t sit but instead stared right back at everyone in the room.

“If we all know what happened we could help you,” his stepmother was still at it. Kageyama opened his mouth to say something but his father stepped in.

“She’s right. People tend to hide their faults when they’re foolish until they become rotten. Sit down so we can watch this,” Kageyama sat in the chair ready watch the television even though the screen was still dark.

“Chairman, Congressman Takahashi called to let you know that he’s on his way back from Shanghai to see his son,” the head butler, Tanaka leaned over and said to his father. He looked at Kageyama.

“I can’t believe you’d do that to your future husband,” he spat. “Turn it on,” Tanaka picked up the remote and pressed play. The screen showed Oikawa and Kei walking away from the table and Kageyama getting up to talk to Hotaru. Just as Kageyama opened his mouth to speak, the screen cut out. It was black for only a second before cutting back in with Hotaru in the water and Kageyama by the side of the pool.

“What the hell?!” His father glared at the butler and Kageyama stood up.

“It seems to have been cut…,” Tanaka looked frightened.

“Well who did it then?” Kageyama asked roughly.

“Only one person has been in the security room today, sir,” said the butler, looking straight at him. Everyone turned to look at him as well.

“I… I only went to check on the footage and I couldn’t even do that because no one was in charge!” Kageyama said quickly.

“Right, sir,” everyone let out a breath as Kageyama’s phone started to ring again. He didn’t answer it and just stood there.

“Tobio? You’re getting a call,” his stepmother pointed out. He glanced at her and pulled out the phone, swiping the answer button.

“Hello?”

“Director Kageyama? Please don’t hang up, this is important.”

“Go ahead,” Kageyama said, annoyed by the timing of the call.

“You remember what happened at the hotel, right?” Kageyama pulled the phone from his ear and pressed end call. The room stood still for a moment.

“I will find who erased the tape and find out what they want,” he turned and left the room, leaving them to their extended silence.

***

“He hung up on me.” Hinata almost couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but that certainly wasn’t it.

“He didn’t say anything?” Kenma asked. Hinata shook his head, still staring at his blank phone screen in shock.

“That’s it, then. You mentioned the hotel and he hung up. He’s guilty and he knows it, Shou. You should call him back and threaten to reveal the evidence of what he’s done if he doesn’t give you your money back.” 

Hinata pocketed his phone with a sigh. “There’s no evidence.”

“So, pretend there is. All you have to do is tell him and he’ll cooperate.”

***

Oikawa felt something in his gut pulling at him but before he could indulge it, his phone began to ring. Sighing, he took it out of his pocket and answered it.

“Hello?”

“We found him. He works in the electronics department. What do you want us to do?” Iwaizumi said on the other line.

“Nothing, I’ll be right there.”

On the drive, Oikawa could think of nothing other than what Hotaru had told him about the man. He wondered if he was prepared for this. When he arrived, Iwaizumi was waiting for him in front of the building, ready to show him inside.

“Congressman Takahashi is going to get here around midnight. He should come by the hospital at about one tonight,” Oikawa checked his wristwatch.

“Good. I believe we have enough time.”

***

“Don’t be so optimistic. He’s the second son of Chairman Kageyama, right? He saw a man drunk on the street and took him to a hotel. Your money disappeared and so did he. That doesn’t sound right now does it?” Kenma asked blunty. Hinata shook his head and looked down at his phone just as it started displaying Kageyama's name. He glanced at Kenma and answered it.

“Hello?” Hinata asked quietly. Kenma gave him a look and he steeled his nerves, “You better not hang up on me again.”

“Who is this? Tell me!” 

“Why are you getting mad at me?” Hinata sounded hurt and Kenma gave him the look again. He repeated himself firmly and Kenma put his face in his hands. “Uh, let’s meet and talk?”

“What do you want? Is it money?” Hinata perked up.

“Yes, it’s about the money, if you give me the money, I’ll let it go. You know what happened in the hotel room, right?” Kenma put his thumbs up.

“Fine, let’s meet. Let’s handle this discreetly.”

“Meet me at four by the main elevators in the courtyard at the mall. You’d better show up!” Hinata didn’t wait for a response and hung up. “Cover for me,” he waved to Kenma.

***

Oikawa couldn’t believe the resemblance. It was like looking at the same person. Even the smile was the same.

He watched as the man spoke with one of his co-workers and finished his phone call. The man waved and shoved his phone in his pocket, rushing for the entrance. 

Oikawa felt his heart speed up and tears rush to his eyes. He nearly fell but the man was close enough to support him. He looked at the name tag the man had. Hinata Shouyou.

“Are you okay?”

All he could do was nod and then Hinata was gone. Suddenly, Iwazumi was holding his arm, out of breath as if he’d been running for him.

“Are you okay?” He asked. Oikawa nodded again and pulled his arm away.

“Follow him. Watch who he meets and where.”

“Yes sir.”

***

“He sounded like the paparazzi!” Kageyama ranted. “What if he has something to do with the security footage? I need him on my side no matter what!”

He spoke with his hands and caught Yachi’s stare in the rearview mirror, “Do you think I’m crazy too?”

“No, I was just thinking the same thing as you,” she said quickly.

“Just drive,” he said, turning to look out the window. Yachi saluted and started driving to the mall.

***

“Listen, if you’re gonna die, you need focus on writing your will well so you could pay off your debt. It should be your number one priority!” Bokuto put his arm on Akaashi’s shoulder and leaned forward as he said it.

“She really did almost die! couldn't you be even a little concerned?” Hinata’s father sounded strained.

“If she was gonna die, then she should’ve gotten life insurance,” Akaashi said, coldly. Natsu griped the sides of her jeans. “You couldn't die like that.”

“We will pay you back! I’ll do whatever it takes, you just need to let us survive!” She glared at the both of them.

“So when, huh? You should do better than your parents. Make a plan and tell me what it is, don’t make stuff up,” Bokuto stepped towards the wall and singled out one of the pictures. He pulled it from its tack and raised it above his head, “We’ve been way too nice.”

The picture hit the floor with the sickening sound of shattered glass and broken wood. Akaashi grinned and kicked over a chair. One of the henchmen kicked in the glass over the display case and Natsu finally lost it. She pushed Bokuto and her parents had to hold her away.

The other man smashed the front window and went outside, pulling down all the signs and threw over the flowerbed she and Hinata had made together.

“Stop!” Natsu cried from behind the protective arms of her mother. Bokuto just looked at her and smiled. He had no intention of stopping anytime soon.

***

_ “So when, huh? You should do better than your parents. Make a plan and tell me what it is, don’t make stuff up.” _

Oikawa hit stop on the remote, he’d seen enough to fully understand the situation. He got up and went to his printer where he’d left Hinata’s job application and resume. Grinning, he checked his watch once more.

“There’s still time.”

***

Hinata would never admit it but he was nervous about the meeting. All the possible what-ifs passed through his head as he ordered coffee for two and sat down on one of the benches in front of the elevators. He as early but hopefully it wouldn’t be too much longer. Just as he was looking around, his phone began to ring. Kenma was calling him. He pressed accept call and put it to his ear.

“The manager wasn't too happy about this,” Kenma said, skipping hellos.

“I figured she wouldn’t be,” Hinata shivered thinking about how she might yell next time they saw each other.

“Yeah. Anyway, I called to remind you that if he doesn’t give you back your money you should file that report. And don’t be too nice to him.”

“Okay, I got it,” Hinata nodded even though Kenma couldn’t see him.

“Alright, bye,” Kenma didn’t wait for a response and hung up.

***

Iwazumi was having trouble watching Hinata’s head over everyone else since he wasn’t very tall. The orange spiked hair stood out enough to make it a little easier. He watched as Hinata ordered coffee and went to sit down. While he was on the phone, a familiar face caught Iwazumi’s eye.

Kageyama stepped off the elevator and looked around. Iwazumi pulled out his phone and dialed Oikawa’s number.

“Your brother-in-law is here,” Iwazumi skipped the formalities and went straight to the point. Oikawa was silent and then gave a sudden sound of realization.

Oikawa remembered when Kyoko gave him the money from the robe. And then when he’d nearly collided with Hinata a moment ago he’d been on the phone talking about money. The two moments clicked in his mind and made horrible sense.

“They’re going to meet! We can't let that happen! Stop them no matter what!” Oikawa ended the call and ran for his office door.

Iwazumi walked quickly to where Hinata was sitting and stood over him.

“Hinata Shouyou?” He questioned. Hinata nodded slowly, “You’re here to meet with Kageyama Tobio, right?”

“Yes I am,” Hinata nodded again.

“He asked me to come get you,” Iwazumi looked up in time to see Oikawa rushing down the escalator, watching him.

The man standing over him certainly looked like he worked for the Kageyama Group. He was impeccable in a black suit, his face serious, but courteous.

“Okay,” Hinata agreed. He stood to follow the man out. He was led to the elevators and down in the parking garage. There the man opened the door to a very expensive looking car and gestured for HInata to climb in.

“Get in and I’ll take you to see him.” 

“Where are we going?” Hinata asked. 

“He wanted to talk in a quiet place,” Iwaizumi explained. 

Hinata’s mind flashed back to the series of images from the hotel. “A quiet place?” He asked, nervous.

The man nodded and Hinata’s phone started ringing.The screen displayed Kageyama’s name and number. He glanced up at the man and answered the call.

“Hello?”

“What’s taking so long? You’re already ten minutes late,” Hinata’s heart rate sped up and his stomach churned.

“You have the wrong number,” Hinata said slowly without looking away from the other man. “Okay, let’s go.” He hung up the phone and tried to act casual.

The man walked to the other side of the car and got in the drivers seat. Hinata opened his door and then slammed it shut, running for the entrance to the mall. Iwazumi rushed out of the car and after Hinata.

***

Kageyama stared at his phone.

“How am I supposed to interpret this?” He said, sounding defeated.

“Maybe he was joking from the start.” Yachi offered.

“Joking?” Kageyama scoffed.

“Sometimes people just have a deep hatred for the rich,” Yachi said nonchalantly.

“Does that mean you hate me too?” Kageyama asked roughly. Yachi took a moment and then shook her head.

“Then why’d you take so long to answer?” Yachi looked away and was quiet for a while before breaking the silence.

“Should we just go?” Kageyama glared at her and pulled out his phone to call the man once more. To his great surprise the call went through immediately.

“I’ll be right there!” The man sounded breathless as he said it and hung up right after.

***

Oikawa felt himself relaxing before he noticed a bit of orange in his peripheral vision. It couldn’t be. He looked over and saw what he feared. Hinata was coming back up the escalator by himself.

Oikawa ran for the nearest set of stairs and ran down them heading for Kageyama.

***

Kageyama was sitting with Yachi talking about Kyoko when he saw her. The woman looked just like his mother and her necklace matched exactly. He felt himself stand up and walk after her as if in a daze. She went down to the garage level and got in her car. He wasn't able to catch up with her. He can see the car, though, as it drives away. Yachi came running up behind him, almost as out of breath as he was.

“What is it?” She asked, looking around.

“Give me the keys,” Kageyama demanded.

“What?” Yachi looked surprised.

“Give me the keys!” Kageyama hissed. Yachi dug in her pocket and gave him the keys. Kageyama ran and got in the car, starting it quickly and driving after the woman.

Yachi watched as he drove away and slumped her shoulders as a familiar looking man with orange hair ran past him and after Kageyama’s car.

***

Oikawa rushed out of the building and into the garage to follow Hinata. He watched as Hinata hailed a cab before he got into his own car, attempting to keep up with him.

***

Kageyama took a drink from the water bottle that had been in the back and set it down on the passenger’s seat. He was determined to follow the woman wherever she was going and question her.

He didn’t notice the cab or the black car that seemed to be following him at all. He was too focused on the back of his mother’s car to pay attention to how fast he was going or what lane he was in.

He whipped around the van that merged into his lane, but his mother’s car was already two cars ahead. Heedless of the traffic around him, Kageyama jerked the wheel to the left, ignoring the car horns blasting around him. He was going to catch her. He had to keep her in his line of sight. 

***

Oikawa watched the traffic light ahead of him anxiously, willing it not to turn red before he passed it. The cab was just ahead of him, but Kageyama was much further out in front of both of them. If he could just keep them from meeting one another, he might have a chance to put his plan into action. Of course, it did turn red and he was stopped behind too many cars to get through. He hit the steering wheel hard with the palm of his hand before dialing Iwaizumi while he waited for the light to change.

***

Hinata’s cab made it through the light just in time and was still right behind Kageyama. However, instead of watching the road, Hinata had his eye on the distance meter. His wallet felt incredibly light in his pocket.

“Please don’t loose that car!” Hinata said, desperately.

The cab driver looked very put upon as the car he was supposed to keep up with kept jerking in and out of traffic, weaving haphazardly between the cars. Hinata could only urge him to keep trying.

***

Kageyama swerved around another car and found himself nearly right beside the car he’d been chasing. His mind wandered to the last time he spoke with his psychiatrist.

_ “Repressed memories could resurface at any time, you must be able to tell the difference between what’s real and what isn't.” _

He pushed the thought away and pressed on the gas to get closer to the car. His heart sped up when he was nearly close enough to look inside the front seat. His breath caught when he saw who was driving.

It wasn’t his mother. It was a man looking somewhere in his late thirties. The man glanced over and then looked away when they made eye contact.

Kageyama slammed on his breaks and the car behind him slammed into him, throwing him into a sideways slide right into a fire hydrant. On impact, his head was slammed to the side by the airbag, shattering the glass on the window.

He lifted his head and saw Hotaru running towards him as if he were panicked. Kageyama let his head drop and his eyes fell on his water bottle. Just before blacking out, he could’ve sworn that something in the bottom of it finished dissolving inside it.

But who would drug him? Why would they drug him?

***

_ The men who’ve been chasing them are catching up. His mother grips his hand tighter tugging him forward, urging his little legs to pump faster. As they run her necklace chain gives out, dropping the gemstone to the ground. Kageyama pulls his hand from his mother's grasp and runs back for it. _

_ “Tobio!” She calls after him. _

_ “Your necklace,” he holds it up proudly, but he’s standing too close to the riverside and his foot slips on the mud, tumbling him headfirst into the river and under the water. _

_ “No!” His mother screams, jumping into the water. She opens her eyes and grabs his legs, pushing him upwards and towards the bank. He latches onto a tree branch and she tries to follow but it’s too late, she’s caught in the current and can't swim. _


	6. The Boy Who Lives For The Present

The hospital was relatively quiet for the middle of the afternoon. The soft murmurs of the nursing staff and the nearby beeping of other patients monitors left him feeling more sleepy than agitated, even as he sat by Kageyama Tobio’s bedside watching him as he slept. Hinata glanced around with a sigh. No one was paying him any attention here. Everyone thought he was this man’s friend or family, which was fine. He wouldn’t have been allowed into the room otherwise. Hinata was determined to stay until he woke up, but right now all he could do was watch him flinch in his sleep.

“What are you dreaming?” Hinata leaned forward and placed his hand on the bed, ready to get up and call a nurse when Kageyama grabbed his hand and held it tight. Hinata fell back in his seat, startled by the sudden movement. “Are you… Are you awake?”

Kageyama settled in the bed, going still and his breathing evened out as if his nightmares had gone away.

“You better not be pretending to be asleep because you know what happened the other night,” Hinata drew his hand from Kageyama’s grip. “You know, if you feel uncomfortable admitting it I won’t make you say why you did it. I can leave for a little bit and you can put the money on the bed if you have it on you. But you better not leave while I’m gone.”

Hinata stood up and took another look at Kageyama before pulling his blanket over his chest, “Surely you didn’t do this to hurt me. You look like a decent guy to me.”

With that, he left the room, headed for the vending machines down the hall. Hinata was in desperate need of caffeine and a clear head. The machines were located in the stairwell, down only one flight, so Hinata followed the signs, barely noticing his surroundings. The whole walk there, he couldn’t stop thinking about Kageyama’s pretty eyes.

When he was finally there he looked at his options. There was coffee with cream and sugar added in and he went to press the button for that, before he noticed the price. He decided he would get the plain coffee instead. Just as he was about to press the button a hand grabbed his arm from behind.

“Hey!” Hinata said, trying to pull his arm away. The man was bigger than he was and was able to keep Hinata from taking his arm back. “Who are you?”

“It doesn’t matter. I have what you need,” the man held up Hinata’s money. “I can make all your dreams come true.”

“I’m going to scream if you don’t give that back and let me go,” Hinata hissed.

“If you really wanted to you would’ve already done it. Here,” he threw Hinata’s arm down and handed him a stack of photos. “That’s not you in case you couldn’t tell. It’s Takahashi Hotaru, the son of Councilman Takahashi. I’m going to give you an offer and I’m sure you won’t refuse.”

Hinata hesitated, “What’s your offer?”

“You’ll become incredibly rich. You’ll get to marry Takahashi Hotaru’s fiance, the second son of Chairman Kageyama,” he smirked with an evil glint in his eye.

“What’ll happen to Takahashi if I take his place?” Hinata asked, not pleased with the look the man was giving him.

“Hotaru is going to die soon,” he looked away.

“Are you saying you’re going to kill him?” Hinata whispered.

“That’s not what I meant, he was in an accident and only has a little while left to live,” he frowned at Hinata. “If you need time to think it over, you can do so.”

Hinata took a moment to consider.

“I don’t need time to think it over. I won’t. I mean, I can’t do this. How could I take the place of a person with a family? I could go to jail!”

“We would make sure you don’t get caught,” he said cooly.

“That’s easy to say! Just give me my money back,” Hinata was starting to feel guilty for even being there. The man held up Hinata’s money once again and looked at it fondly.

“It’s not really yours though, is it? Soon the loan sharks will have it and you’ll never see it again,” Hinata fiddled with his sleeve. “Children often repeat the lifestyle of their parents. Do you really want to live only to pay back your debt?”

“I don’t care what you think,” Hinata snatched the money. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything, don’t ever contact me again.” 

Hinata pushed his way past the stranger and into the hallway.

“There’s a saying,” Hinata stopped walking. “Even when a frog is on a golden chair, it will jump back into the pond. Mister Hinata Shouyou, are you going to jump back into the water? Like a frog?”

Yes,” Hinata swung around and nodded vigorously. “Because the frog is happier in the pond than on the golden chair.”

How are you going to pay back your debt then? I heard you’re losing possession of the store soon, too,” the man strode towards Hinata, smiling. “The reason the frog jumps back into the pond is very simple. It’s just stupid.”

***

Hinata repeated that he had made the right choice in his head. He’d surely done the right thing.

Just before he left the hospital, his phone started ringing.

“Hello?” He said, without checking the caller..

“You have until midnight. Once tonight passes, the offer will no longer exist,” Hinata turned around and saw the man standing on the floor above, looking over the railing. “With this single deal, you can-,”

Hinata made a show of hanging up and opened the contact menu, changing the name to, “Crazy Fucker.”

***

Oikawa didn’t let his frustration show, he never did. It didn’t matter, though, Iwaiumi knew his every tiny tell. He didn’t even have to look over to know his assistant understood how dire the situation was. Chairman Takahashi was coming to visit his son Hotaru in the hospital and was expecting to find him well on the road to recovery and that was just the first of many hurdles. Oikawa found himself gripping his phone a little too tightly as he watched Hinata’s figure disappear through the doors and out into the parking lot.

“What should we do?” Iwazumi asked Oikawa seriously.

“Hinata Shouyou must die, no matter what.”

***

Kageyama opened his eyes slowly, taking in his surroundings before shooting up in bed. He was in the hospital. His head swam and the walls turned at first. After a few deep breaths, he gathered himself and the room stopped moving. He looked around but all he saw was a tin and a note by his bed.

“ _ You must have been surprised by my call, I had no idea you were with your fiance at the hotel. I sincerely apologize. I won’t bother you ever again, stay healthy. _

_ P.S.: Don’t eat all the dextrose candy at once!” _

Kageyama peered at the tin. Peach flavored dextrose candy. 

Sighing, he got out of bed and pulled the bandage off his forehead, hissing at the pain. When he made it to the lobby, a strong hand gripped his shoulder.

“Tobio, are you feeling okay?” Oikawa asked as Kageyama turned around.

“Yeah, it wasn’t very bad,” he answered absentmindedly.

“By the way, your father won’t hear anything about this. Get an examination sometime soon if you’re not getting one here, okay?” Kageyama shifted his feet. Oikawa put his other hand on Kageyama’s left shoulder. “I said, don’t worry about it. We’re all on your side.”

“I’m sorry,” Kageyama forced out

“As long as you understand, it’s all good.”

***

“Peach flavored dextrose candy. I can’t even afford that for myself,” Hinata said aloud. He stopped walking as he remembered the man’s offer. In his head he could picture himself walking arm in arm with Kageyama down the grand staircase in the center of the mall while all the staff waved. Kuroo and Kenma were there, watching in awe.

He shook his head and laughed a little. Hinata only hoped that the note he left would distance him from Kageyama. He started walking again only to stop a moment later when he saw his family sweeping up in front of the shop. The windows were broken and the displays had been thrown around. He was just close enough to overhear what they were talking about.

“Let’s report them to the police,” his mother insisted. “They did all this and we aren't going to do a thing?”

“Reporting them won’t change what we owe them,” his father said, gravely.

“Well I’m not going to just stand by! I’m going to find those bastards-,” Natsu started. 

Their mother cut her off. “Please don’t say things like that!” She cried. 

Hinata had heard enough. He took the money out of his pocket and stared at it for a moment before turning around and walking away.

***

Kageyama stormed into the kitchen to find Tanaka and Kyoko stocking the fridge. He rushed towards them and they moved aside as he began to throw bottles out of it until finally he lifted one in his hand and slowly turned around.

“Why is this one open? Explain!” He demanded. Tanaka looked away.

“I was going to drink it earlier but after I opened it I decided I didn’t want it, so I put it back,” his step mother pushed through the swinging doors and took the bottle from him, taking a swift drink from it. “Don’t worry so much, Tobio. We’ll find whoever changed the footage.”

“Of course, when Hotaru wakes up, we’ll know everything,” Kageyama took the water bottle back and put it on the counter as his father walked into the kitchen.

“Let’s move quickly before Congressman Takahashi gets here,” he said gravely.

***

Hinata sucked in a breath and turned the knob on the office door of the loansharks. Bokuto peeked around the corner to see who it was.

“Oho, what brings you here?” Hinata handed him the money. “See? We told you it was all about determination.”

He took a good two minutes to count the money, as he appeared to be losing his place an awful lot. Hinata refused the seat offered to him, standing felt safer somehow. He didn’t want to be here any longer than necessary. It smelled like old cigarettes and stress sweat and it made Hinata incredibly nervous. Finally, Bokuto looked up, his eyes cold.

“This isn’t enough,” Hinata scoffed and Akaashi rounded the corner.

“What are you talking about? That should be plenty!” Hinata was starting to feel upset and his stomach churned.

“That’s how much you owed that day. Now the interest has gone up, and now you have a violation fee. Plus you have to pay or the damage we did to your shop. Manual labor and all that. Am I right mister?” Bokuto called to the back of the office.

“Yes! Of course!” A strangled voice answered.Hinata couldn’t see back behind the big desk on the back wall, but there must be a man down on the floor. Hinata’s fight or flight instinct was kicking in, though it was more like freeze or flight and Hinata’s body couldn’t figure out which was better. The fluorescent light above him flickered, distracting him momentarily.

“You know, the real bad guys are the ones who take someone else's money and don’t pay them back for it,” Akaashi chimed in with a sickening grin. “I found a job for your daughter by the way.” He was in the back now, talking to the other man.

The man Hinata couldn’t see must’ve pushed something over or fallen because there was a loud sound and then sobbing.

“Please, not my daughter!” The man pleaded. Hinata shivered. Bokuto and Akaashi turned their backs on the man and leaned in towards Hinata.

“If you don't pay us back even when there’s a way, that means you don’t have the will to-,” before he could finish talking, Akaashi was slammed to the floor by the man from the back. He had an ashtray and was beating him over the head with it.

Bokuto quickly pulled him off and called for the other men to help restrain the assailant. There was only one other man in the office and he rushed to assist. Bokuto began to hit their captive before Akaashi stood up from where he’d fallen.

“Move!” He ordered. Bokuto smiled and moved aside, as did the new guy. Akaashi started kicking him in the stomach until the man was no longer crying out. He straightened up and started walking towards Hinata, running a hand through his hair. Hinata stiffened as he approached. He’d been quietly trying to step back before they noticed him, but it was too late.

“Move,” for a moment neither of them moved before Hinata stepped to the side and Akaashi pushed past him, picking up a box of tissues from by the door.

“Keiji!” Bokuto called.

“What?” Akaashi sounded impatient.

“He’s not breathing,” Bokuto had his head on the man’s chest, Hinata gasped and they all turned to look at him.

“I-I didn’t see anything!” Hinata backed away from Akaashi as they moved towards him. He threw open the storage room by the front door and locked it behind himself.

“Dammit Hinata, open the door!” Bokuto shouted. Hinata fumbled with his phone to dial the police but just before he could, the window by the door shattered and Akaashi stepped inside.

***

Kageyama didn’t normally visit the doctor at his office, preferring the privacy the home visits provided. This, however, was an emergency situation. Hotaru wasn’t yet awake, so they still had no answers about what happened to him.

“Not everyone is receptive to hypnosis. If you subconsciously refuse it, you won’t be hypnotized. In other words, if you don’t want to tell us what happened that day, then we won’t be able to find out this way,” Kageyama’s psychiatrist spoke calmly as he prepared a syringe.

“I’m going to prove that it wasn’t my fault,” Kageyama whispered to himself. His doctor prepared Kageyama’s arm and then inserted the needle. He laid him back in the reclining chair and then went to sit himself on a chair nearby. 

Kageyama focused on the ceiling above him, forcing himself to breathe slowly and relax as the medicine began taking effect. He needed to know what happened before Hotaru’s family arrived, and if Hotaru couldn’t tell him, this was the next best thing. He’d agreed with his father on that much. They had to move quickly because time was running out.

“Now pay attention to this sound,” he lifted one ball from the Newton’s Cradle he kept on his desk and let it go. “Your eyelids are getting heavy, heavier. Take a deep breath, then breathe out. You are getting sleepy. Sleepier. Your memories are waking up, one by one. Now… Let’s return to when Takahashi visited. What do you see?” 

Kageyama let his eyes slip shut as he listened to the rhythmic, click, click, click, of the ball bearings. He tried to think about Hotaru and the lunch by the pool. The sun was so bright, glistening and glinting off the pool. It was so vivid Kageyama could smell the chlorine.

_ Where is the cut? He had a cut on his hand last night. Where is it? _

_ He was drunk on the streets just yesterday. Doesn’t he have any shame? _

_ “I heard your mother is also a mistress? What’s she like? Is she coming to the wedding?” Kageyama reached for Hotaru’s hand but was smacked away. “My mom won’t be coming. She left early on. People say that if you love someone, you should let them go. But why would you leave someone you love? You should protect them to the end, no matter what.” _

_ “Let’s finish our lunch here,” Kageyama said, unimpressed. Hotaru grinned. _

_ “I still have wine left,” Kageyama stood from where he was kneeling and picked up his glass, drinking all the wine that was left. _

_ “I’m looking forward to our wedding. I’ll see you then,” Hotaru stood and grabbed his satchel, walking away. After a few feet, he turned and smiled at Kageyama before walking again. Kageyama felt something snap inside him and suddenly he was pushing Hotaru down. Hotaru tried to fight him off using his satchel but Kageyama just ripped it away from him, using the strap to choke the smaller man. _

“Kageyama!” He was pulled from his mind by the doctor calling his name. It took him a moment to catch his breath but finally he was able to force the words out.

“What I saw can’t be real, there’s no way. I’ll talk to Hotaru myself.” Kageyama was shaken. He stood on unsteady feet, ignoring his doctor, and strode out as quickly as his legs could carry him.

***

The car made another sharp turn and Hinata was pushed against the window. His hands were cuffed together and his balance was thrown off.

“What’s your plan boss?” The man sitting next to him asked Akaashi.

“Shut up Haruki, he’s thinking,” Bokuto shot back.

“It was self defense,” Akaashi said slowly.

“Of course! I can be your witness, let’s just turn ourselves in,” Hinata suggested. “You’re worried they’ll misunderstand the situation, right? Just unlock the handcuffs first, if they catch us like this, they’ll definitely arrest you.”

“Come think of it, that car does seem to be following us,” Bokuto pointed out from the driver’s seat.

“Why would they be following us?” Haruki asked. “Unless they know something.”

“Unlock these first, if it really is the police then they will be very suspicious of the situation,” Hinata practically begged. Akaashi was silent for a moment before he reached to the front seat.

“Give me the keys,” Haruki handed back the set of keys for the handcuffs and Akaashi started unlocking one of the cuffs.

Hinata was watching Akaashi work on the handcuffs, but his mind was on how to get out of this situation. He didn’t know where they were or where they were going. From what he’d seen, though, they were in the middle of nowhere, winding up a hill through a forest. Aside from the one car in the distance behind them, there was no one out here now that it was dark. 

“They could be after us for killing that lady with the bus last year,” Akaashi stopped moving when Bokuto said it. “We got the insurance money without a problem though.”

“I didn’t hear anything!” Hinata insisted as Haruki turned to look and Akaashi glared at Bokuto.

“Stop the car,” Akaashi said quietly.

“What?” Bokuto asked.

“I said, stop the car!” Bokuto pulled the car over to the shoulder, and the car behind them slowly drove by. Hinata made the mistake of looking in the backseat and he locked eyes with the man who offered the deal earlier in the day.

“Looks like they aren’t cops,” said Haruki.

“Looks like we were worried for no reason,” three of the four men let out a sigh of relief as a sound from the trunk caught their attention.

“Please don’t kill me!” Bokuto and Akaashi made eye contact.

“I was sure he was dead!” Haruki exclaimed.

“Let’s go to the hospital! He’s still alive!” Hinata insisted.

“He could still die at the hospital,” Akaashi looked to be deep in thought.

“I think we should just kill him,” Bokuto said bluntly.

“We should,” Akaashi agreed. “Come on.”

Akaashi stepped out of the car and Bokuto and Haruki followed suit. Hinata dove into the front and into the driver’s seat, starting the car quickly and driving away just as the three men were about to open the trunk.

“Hey, stop the car!” Bokuto called, running after it.

“Dammit, why did I unlock his hand!” Akaashi ran with all his might but Hinata was already long gone.

Hinata only drove until he knew he was safe and then pulled over to check on the man in the trunk. He got out quickly and opened the trunk, only to have the man push him into the bushes and run away in a mad panic.

“No!” He yelled repeatedly as he ran.

Hinata had fallen in between two particularly large bushes and found that his left arm was caught by the handcuffs. He struggled with it for a long time, longer than he would like to admit even, before he heard voices approaching.

“I can’t believe this,” Haruki climbed over the shoulder onto the side of the road when he caught sight of Hinata in the bushes. “You!”

Hinata pulled against the bush and got himself out before running for the car. He made it just in time to start the car but he wasn’t fast enough to beat Haruki. The man threw himself into the front seat and fought Hinata for the wheel. Hinata got the car moving again, despite the fact that Haruki was still trying to wrest control from him.

He didn’t even notice it had begun to rain until his visibility went to practically zero. Haruki clamped the open half of the cuffs on to the steering wheel, trapping Hinata.

“Stop!” Haruki yelled but as the next turn came up, Hinata lost control and the car skidded into the shoulder of the bridge and off the side.

***

Hinata wiped the tears from his face and pressed send on his phone. He only hoped that they wouldn’t see it before whatever was going to happen to him did.

The scream hardly left his mouth before he was in the water. The airbag released and almost knocked him unconscious but he held on. Hinata pushed aside the airbag and pulled the bag next to him open, ripping through the money until he found what he was looking for. The keys.

He quickly unlocked himself and swam out through the windshield, pushing for the surface. But he’s too far and his clothes were too heavy. The water above him pushed down on him no matter how he tried to kick for the surface. 

_ Is this how it all ends? _

***

_ “Ta-da!” Hinata held up an envelope to his family over the table. _

_ “What is it?” His mother took it from him and examined it. _

_ “It’s my first paycheck!” He said proudly. _

_ “Oh, Shouyou! That’s so good!” His mother cooed. _

_ “Should we take a vacation with it?” Hinata suggested, smiling wide. _

_ “A vacation?” His father questioned. _

_ “Ooh, yeah, let’s do that!” Natsu chimed in. _

_ “Where should we go?” Hinata asked cheerfully. _

_ “What about that amusement park that just opened up?” His father asked. _

_ “Come on, guys! We can’t use all of Shouyou’s money on that! It’s not for us,” his mother said. “He should save it and then use it when he gets married.” _

_ “Mom, come on,” Hinata complained, half laughing. _

***

Hinata came back to himself, to the water, the to burning in his lungs, but only for one painful moment. Before he slipped away again he could have sworn he saw someone in the water, swimming toward him. Hinata didn’t think. He reached his hand out, stretching, wanting to give one last push of effort to meet the his savior, but he had nothing left. Pain and terror swallowed him as water rushed into his lungs. This time there was no beautiful memory to escape to. Only darkness, and Hinata no longer had any fight left in him.

***

Kageyama opened Hotaru’s room door and walked in, striding to his bed. Hotaru was still, breathing now, though, unlike the last time Kageyama had seen him. He was pale, though, bruised looking around the eyes from drowning. Kageyama felt something churning in his gut just watching his fiance lay there. He looked at the bandage around his neck and swallowed hard. Had he really done that. Had he tried to kill Hotaru? Something stirred in his field of vision and he looked up, only to meet Hotaru’s eyes.

He was awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wasn't that a ride?


	7. Best Choice, Worst Choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for waiting on this chapter. We promise it is a long one and for the first time ever, beta'd! As soon as we find out where our beta wants to be linked to, we'll add that here. Without them this chapter would have been a mess so we are very thankful for all of their help! Thanks again to all of our loyal readers, old and new, we hope you enjoy this chapter!

“Wake up.” 

Hinata stirred. 

“I said, wake up!”

Hinata opened his eyes, though they felt gritty and his lungs and throat ached. The sterile room he woke to must have been a hospital room. When he found the source of the voice, he drew a surprised breath. Crazy fucker was there staring at him, eyes narrowed and intense. He handed Hinata a notepad and held out his phone. There were a few lines  of text on the screen.

“Write it down.”

Hinata picked up the pen on the side table and did as he was told.

_ If your creditor dies, your debt disappears. It’s the only way. _

Oikawa grabbed the notepad and ripped off the page, folded it and then placed it inside his suit jacket.

“Listen carefully to what I’m about to say. From now on, your name is not Hinata Shouyou, it’s Takahashi Hotaru. When you went to your fiance’s house, you fell into the pool. Because of the trauma you are suffering temporary memory loss,” Oikawa’s voice was rough. 

“Am I suffering memory loss?” Hinata asked, somewhat confused.

“I’m telling you to pretend,” he snapped. “Right now, Hotaru’s parents are on their way to see you. When you meet them, don’t say anything.”

“What happened to the other people? Especially Takahashi-,” Oikawa cut him off.

“Don't worry about it. Don’t even think. From now on  _ I,  _ Oikawa Tooru _ , _ will be doing all of the thinking. Do you understand?” 

Hinata didn’t say anything. 

“I asked if you understood.”

Hinata looked at him and then broke eye contact, nodding his head furiously. Before he could say anything, there was a knock at the door and Oikawa pushed him back into his bed, forcing him to lay down. Oikawa bowed to the people who entered the room.

***

_ Kageyama pushes Hotaru down, angry over such a small smirk. He rolls the other man over and Hotaru fights, throwing his satchel in an attempt to escape. Kageyama rips it from his hands, using it to choke him. _

_ They’re struggling against each other, one trying to get away and the other to keep them where they are. Kageyama is pressing the strap down on Hotaru’s neck harder, grinding his teeth. _

_ Hotaru pushes up with his legs, standing quickly and Kageyama falls to the side. Hotaru tries to run but his head is spinning and he falls into the water. _

“Tobio.” 

Kageyama was pulled from his thoughts. Tsukishima walked up next to him holding two wine glasses. They were on the balcony above the pool where Kageyama had been for almost an hour, torturing himself with the fragmented memory of the incident with Hotaru. The water rippled in the breeze, and Kageyama breathed in the sickening scent of chlorine, though it hurt him to keep standing there.

“You know you don’t have to pretend to be okay. If you were that’d be weird.” Tsukishima sighed as though bored by the whole affair.

Kageyama didn’t reply. 

“Here,” he held out one of the wine glasses. “When things are hard, it might not be a bad idea to get drunk.” 

That at least sounded honest. Kageyama wasn’t in the mood for honesty. “What do you want me to say?” Kageyama snapped.

“Takahashi almost died,” Tsukishima said coldly. “Something like that could happen again. I’ll say this as your brother. Don’t go through with the wedding.”

“Maybe I won’t listen to you. Aren’t you just scared I’ll be successful with him? That our father might approve of me and pick me as his heir?” Kageyama turned to face him.

“You would marry someone you almost killed?” Tsukishima didn’t sound surprised.

“He’ll tell us what happened. I’m on my way to see him again right now. He didn’t say anything the first time,” Kageyama started walking away but stopped when Tsukishima spoke again.

“If it turns out you’re the one who did it, will you cancel the wedding then?”

“If that’s the case, then nothing will change. I can just pay for the damage.” Kageyama pushed off the railing and turned to walk back into the house, leaving Tsukishima behind him without another glance.

***

“Hotaru, don’t you recognize me?” The Takahashi’s were standing over Hinata’s bed. His mother was speaking to him. “Please, just say something.”

Hinata stayed quiet and shot a glance towards Oikawa, who returned the look with a hard stare. 

A man in a black suit leaned in the room and called for Hotaru’s father. “Congressman, if you are still planning to accompany the president to the states, you need to leave now.”

The congressman turned and faced Hotaru. “You will be treated by the top medical team in the country. From your toes to every hair on your head, they will check to make sure everything is okay,” he gestured to his wife and the two left the room, leaving Oikawa and Hinata alone. 

Hinata hazarded a glance at Oikawa, but the man’s face revealed nothing to indicate whether Hinata had passed this test or not. He was feeling pretty intimidated already without the sudden visit. Oikawa walked over to the room’s closet and pulled out an outfit. A white button down with gray slacks. He threw it on the edge of the bed.

“It’s good that you have a great father. Get dressed and get ready to leave.” When Hinata didn’t move he spoke again. “We don’t have time, hurry.”

Oikawa turned his back while Hinata changed into the clothes and when Hinata told him he was done, he looked pleased, finally. Hinata didn’t really like the pleased look. It made him feel uneasy in the pit of his stomach.

“Hajime should be here-,” he was interrupted by Iwaizumi coming in with a gurney. “There he is.”

Hinata was surprised by the look the two other men shared. It almost made him feel even more uncomfortable. Oikawa broke eye contact and looked at Hinata.

“Close your eyes and turn around. No matter what, don’t scream.” Oikawa’s tone left no room for argument, though Hinata was never good with orders, especially not when he was afraid.

Hinata’s anxiety kicked up several notches. “What?” What were they about to do to him?

“If you scream, people may come,” Oikawa said quickly. Hinata turned to face the door and heard some shuffling behind him. His curiosity got the best of him and he glanced over his shoulder. He opened his mouth to scream at the sight of what Iwaizumi was pulling from under the bed but Oikawa quickly clapped his hand over Hinata’s mouth, pulling him backward against his chest.

“I told you not to scream.” He warned. 

Iwaizumi slid Hotaru’s dead body from under the bed, lowered the gurney and pushed the body onto it, then finally raised it, covering Hotaru with a white sheet.

Oikawa removed his hand and Hinata stood stock still before moving out of Iwaizumi’s way as he pushed Hotaru out of the room.

“Let’s go,” Oikawa said curtly. He followed Iwaizumi, and Hinata trailed behind. Oikawa turned back and grabbed Hinata by the arm, pushing him to walk faster. As they walked down the hall, Hinata’s head began to pound. After they rode the elevators down to the lobby Hinata pulled away and stopped walking.

“I really don’t think I can do this,” Hinata held his stomach in mock pain. “I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Hold it,” Oikawa reached for him but Hinata stepped back.

“I don’t think I can hold it,” Hinata looked at him desperately and a couple of nearby passersby stared at the scene he was beginning to make.  

Hinata knew Oikawa couldn’t have anyone question him or the gurney Iwaizumi was pushing, so he gave his assistant a quick nod to say keep going while he stayed behind to deal with Hinata and his suspicious and  sudden stomach ache. Iwaizumi started pushing Hotaru again until they were out the front doors. Oikawa gestured to Hinata with a casual brush of his hand, and Hinata hurried off towards the bathrooms.

Once he was inside he ran to the window, finding it sealed. He turned to the other man in the bathroom, about to ask for help, but he hurriedly gathered his things and left before Hinata could say anything. He noticed the man left a small bottle of cologne and he quickly scooped it up, staring at it intensely. When he finally gathered the courage, he unscrewed the lid and brought it to his lips, drinking half of it. He staggered out of the bathroom and Oikawa grabbed him.

“Come on,” he hissed impatiently.

“I can’t,” Hinata said, clutching his sides.

“What now?” Oikawa asked annoyed. Hinata fell to his knees and threw up the contents of his stomach.

“I’m sick, I don’t think I should be released yet,” Oikawa looked around at the hospital staff that was watching their interaction. He helped Hinata stand and lead him back to his hospital room.

When he closed the door behind them, he pulled out a bag as Hinata climbed back into the bed.

“Do you know what this is?” Oikawa showed Hinata the bag, inside was a set of keys. Hinata sat up. “It’s your keys. You drove the car with your lender in it off a cliff. “If your creditor dies, your debt disappears,” that’s what you were thinking. When the guy next to you tried to escape, you stabbed him in the neck with these. The other guys managed to escape but you and the other ended up dying. If you want to call the police, go ahead. However, you  _ will _ have a hard time proving you didn’t kill him. Because what the ones with power say is true and what those with no power say is false.”

***

Kageyama wasted no time driving to the hospital as soon as it was confirmed that Hotaru was awake. Even though it was the middle of the night, he didn’t think he could rest for a moment until he heard from Hotaru’s own mouth what happened to him. It was all he could think about. Hotaru’s answer would determine how Kageyama moved forward from this moment on.

 

The parking lot at the hospital was empty as Kageyama pulled into a spot near the front door. Even though there weren’t any people around outside, the lot was full; the hospital was always busy day or night. The bright white lights shone down in beaming circles, lighting the lot in a way that made Kageyama feel it wasn’t quite real. Though, that was how almost everything felt these days.

 

He stepped out of the car, hitting the button to set the alarm, and as he turned something caught his eye. He turned back, several cars down from his, but saw nothing. He had a feeling though, like a dream half remembered. It was important, but it was slipping from his mind quicker than he could catch it. Had he seen something or not? Another problem he seemed to be having recently.

 

He turned away again and looked up at the hospital. It loomed ahead of him, steel and glass, large and imposing. His future depended on what he’d find out inside.

 

Behind him there was a squeaking, almost like the wheel of a shopping cart , followed by a rustling. Someone was there. He whipped around again, this time taking several steps toward the car that he was sure he’d seen someone behind a moment ago. He was halfway there when his phone began to ring. Oikawa was calling.

 

“Yes?”

 

“I see you, Tobio. Look up. I’m on the second floor balcony.”

 

Kageyama heaved a sigh, but turned away from his mystery to find Oikawa smiling and waving at him from the hospital. “What do you want?” His words were sharp and slow, punctuated by his frustration. He didn’t want to see Oikawa just now, despite knowing he was here all evening.

 

“You need to know something before you see Hotaru. Come on up.” He waved again and Kageyama started toward him. “Hotaru doesn’t remember anything.”

 

***

Oikawa watched Kageyama and kept him on the phone the whole way into the hospital, keeping one eye on Iwaizumi as he unloaded Hotaru’s body in the parking lot. He’d only been five feet from Kageyama at one point, but Oikawa managed to distract him. Once he was inside, Oikawa took him by the arm and physically propelled him toward the hospital room where Hinata lay pretending to sleep. 

***

Kageyama opened Hotaru’s door and strode in. He walked to the bed only to find that Hotaru was asleep.

“He must have fallen back asleep,” Oikawa spoke up as he entered the room. “You might want to come back tomorrow.”

Kageyama was only half listening. He was focused on Hotaru’s neck. If he’d really done it, then there would be marks on his neck. There was a bandage wrapped all the way around so that must mean… “I’ll wait until he wakes up,” Kageyama said after a moment. Still not looking over at Oikawa.

“He still won’t remember anything when he wakes up, he can’t even speak properly yet.”

“I said I’ll wait. I’ll watch him and you can go home and sleep,” Kageyama turned to face Oikawa. “What is it? Do you think I might do something to him if we’re alone? If that’s not what you think, please go.”

Oikawa nodded and left, leaving Hotaru and Kageyama alone. He looked back only once before shutting the door.

Kageyama leaned over Hotaru and tried to pull back the blanket, only to find that Hotaru was gripping it tightly.

“Are you awake? I think you’re awake,” Hotaru opened his eyes and stared up at Kageyama, eyes wide. “Are you okay?”

Hotaru nodded slowly, not breaking eye contact.

“How much do you remember? By any chance, did I…,” Hotaru didn’t say anything. “I didn’t, did I? That’s not what happened, right?”

Hotaru looked away but stayed silent. Kageyama’s face twisted in rage and he lunged forward, ripping the blanket off of the bed. Hotaru yelped in fear, Kageyama’s anger only intensifying as he saw the bandage around Hotaru’s neck.

“Say it wasn’t me! Say It!” Kageyama pressed Hotaru into the bed as he yelled. “Say it!”

Oikawa burst through the door and grabbed Kageyama, pulling him back. “Tobio! What are you doing?” 

Kageyama threw him off but didn’t look back as Hotaru sat up, fear in his eyes. “I didn’t do anything,” Kageyama lied.

“Let’s just go. This’ll scare Hotaru,” Oikawa glanced at Hotaru and Kageyama glared at him before walking towards the door and leaving.

***

“Shouyou still hasn’t called you?” Natsu’s mother fretted. Natsu shook her head “Where is he? Call him again.”

“What if something happened to him?” His father wondered aloud, his voice low and worried. Natsu pulled out her phone and dialed her brother’s number.

“I’m sure he’s just drunk somewhere,” Her mother scoffed and the call redirected. “His phone is off. Wait, he texted me.”

Natsu opened her messenger app and looked at the new message. It was a video file from Shouyou. She pressed play and her parents stood beside her.

_ “Hey guys, it’s um, it’s me. I know I don’t say it enough but I love you guys. I’m going to help you and you won’t have worry about mom anymore, okay? She’ll get better and then you can relax. So stop with all the fretting, Dad. You too, Natsu. You could both use a break from it. I just love you all so, so much. Dad, I know you’re scared but it’ll be okay after this. Natsu, I need you to help Mom and Dad through what happens next. It’s gonna be hard and tough but you’re strong enough to handle it. Make sure Mom doesn’t do anything drastic, okay? No more loans. Go live, all of you. I love you.” _

Natsu switched off the video, “See? He talks like he’s been drinking. He was talking nonsense in the bathroom and fell asleep somewhere.”

“Is that it?” Her mom looked away, wringing her hands until her knuckles were white.

***

In the end, they ended up leaving the hospital that night, despite Hinata’s state of recovery and attempts to be left in the hospital.

The car ride was quiet. Hinata cringed each time he shifted in his seat and broke the silence. Oikawa never took his eyes off the road and Iwaizumi drove without saying a word. The atmosphere was heavy over them all and without any forewarning, Hinata didn’t know where they were going or what to expect when they got there. Outside, the night was clear, and for Hinata it felt like he was moving through an alternate dimension.

After what seemed like a lifetime to him, they finally arrived at their destination. It was a tall building with several terraces lining the sides. A modern apartment building. 

Oikawa forcibly pulled Hinata out of the car and dragged him along until they were inside, then he did the same to the elevator and all the way to the top floor. He unlocked the door at the end of the hallway and ushered Hinata inside.

“Where are we?” Hinata asked, looking around. Everything was white. Cold. Modern and probably very high end, but just looking at it made Hinata shiver. It was like a museum or worse; a mausoleum. 

“Your place,” Oikawa answered absently, walking towards the main room.

“My place?” Hinata noticed the pictures then. Pictures of Hotaru with his friends and family hanging on the walls. “Even if we look identical, we’ve lived different lives for years. Living as him, someone I didn’t even know…”

“It’ll be difficult. But not impossible. Hotaru lived abroad when he was little, away from his parents. His biological mother passed away twenty years ago. Due to his father’s career, his stepmother was always busy helping him. Since he just returned from studying, he doesn’t have specific job. After he’s married he’ll live in Chairman Kageyama’s house with his new husband and family. You won’t be close to anyone who knew him,” Oikawa said.

Hinata stared at the pictures and Oikawa slid a small box over to him, “Make everything yours.”

Hinata picked up the box and opened it slowly. Inside was the ring he’d picked up off the mall floor for Hotaru the first time he’d seen him, the first time he’d been confronted by his doppleganger. He couldn’t help but think back on the look they’d shared before Hotaru took the ring and walked off. The ring was platinum, the band was simple and set with one tiny floating diamond. Even though it looked plain, HInata could tell this ring must have cost a fortune. He slipped it out of the box and onto his finger. It fit perfectly.

***

Kiyoko carefully measured the folds on Kageyama’s bed before stepping back and smiling. She walked backwards to where Tanaka was positioning the items on the table and accidentally bumped into him, causing a glass of red juice to fall on the white rug, staining it. Tanaka saluted to Kiyoko.

“I’ll take full responsibility,” he said. Kiyoko was going to respond when the door slammed open and Kageyama stepped inside. He walked in and started taking his jacket off when he noticed the stain.

“We spilled juice on the carpet, we can replace it right away,” Kiyoko said softly, trying not to set him off.

“It okay, you can go,” Kageyama said quickly.

“Are you sure?” Tanaka asked.

“Yes, now go,” he said gently. The two nodded and left the room. Kageyama walked towards his staircase, his legs wobbling. He shot a glance out the window and saw Hotaru in the water. He blinked and the image disappeared.

He fell onto his couch, eyes searching the room for something to ground him but they caught on the glass on the floor, the juice bleeding into a deeper, bloodier shade, trailing over his feet.

He grabbed at the drawer on the table in front of him, pulling it open and onto the floor. Grasping desperately for the bottles inside he got a hold of one and opened it, pouring out the pills into his hand and swallowing them all at once.

Kageyama leaned back, head swimming. The lights flew around the room and his hands felt heavy at his sides.

He gathered all his strength and pushed himself off the couch and on his small spiral staircase. He pulled books down from the shelves until he found the one he wanted. He opened it and took out the key from it’s hollow insides.

***

Hinata glanced up at Oikawa and then went back to writing down the names and phrases from the list the other man had provided.

“Study some simple french and english expressions. What’s important is not that you become good at it but that you look like you’re good at it,” Hinata grimaced.

“I might end up going to hell for this,” he said, sighing as he continued to write.

“Do you even believe in hell?” Oikawa shot back. Hinata shook his head in defeat. “Then why would you worry about it?”

Oikawa picked up some CD’s from a shelf and brought them over, “These are the songs Hotaru listened to. Listen and memorize them.”

He lifted a small stack of yearbooks from the table and placed them in front of Hinata, “These were his classmates, I circled the ones he was close to. You’ll want to know their names at least.”

Hinata flipped through the top one, looking at all the circled names and faces until he came across a page with a quote written down on it.

“ _ If you wear a mask, you can never be happy. _ ”

Hinata couldn’t help but think about how much that related to his current situation and how he felt about it. He pushed the thought aside. “How do you know so much about him anyway? You even knew the password to this place.”

“I know even more about Hinata Shouyou. Do you want to know what I know about you?” Oikawa asked slyly. Hinata shook his head feverently. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Study and master these.”

He nodded to Iwaizumi and started leaving the room. Hinata panicked when he realized he wasn’t going to take Iwaizumi with him. He shot up out of his chair and after Oikawa.

“Hold on,” Hinata pointed to Iwaizumi. “What about that man?”

“He will stay here with you for now,” Oikawa replied cooly.

“I want to be here alone, though,” Oikawa gave him a look and walked over to the couch. He picked up Hotaru’s satchel and corded the strap through his hands before walking back towards Hinata slowly. He stopped in front of him and then pinned him against the wall by his neck with the satchel, choking him.

“Without me, you’d already be dead. You’re still breathing because of me. If you want to go back to being Hinata Shouyou, just die here. I’ll let you live if you become Takahashi Hotaru. I have the right to do so. Do you agree?” Oikawa asked roughly. Hinata didn’t respond. “I asked if you agree.

Hinata nodded as best he could through the hold. Oikawa smiled and drew away, leaving Hinata to gasp and sputter.

“I know what you constantly think about,” Oikawa said, examining his nails. “This has already happened. We can’t go back.”

“I’m not thinking about that. I’m not thinking that because you told me not to,” Hinata said, out of breath. He pointed to Iwaizumi. “So, take him with you.”

“Hotaru would’ve said the same thing. He got what he wanted, no matter how. He pushed for what he wanted,” Oikawa said appreciatively.

“Takahashi would’ve been thinking the exact same thing. He wouldn’t have wanted to be here all night with such a bandit,” Hinata snapped. Iwaizumi looked at Oikawa and he nodded again.

“Fine. I’ll trust you,” he and Iwaizumi walked out of the apartment, leaving Hinata to himself. He put his hands on his neck before making up his mind and running for the front door. He looked out the peephole and tried the knob but it didn’t give. He hit his fist against it once but gave up.

He walked into the bedroom only to notice a sliding glass door leading to a terrace. His heart soared as he opened it and looked down, but fell when he saw Iwaizumi sitting on the hood of his car.

Defeated, Hinata sat down on the bed and his eyes caught on a landline. He grabbed the phone and quickly dialed his home number, waiting for a moment and then speaking.

“Someone died. It was an accident, everything was an accident. It just happened.”

Hinata felt tears fall down his face as he looked over to see what he already expected. The phone cord had been cut.

***

_ Mom, why did I think you were still alive? _

_ Am I really crazy? _

_ Did I really strangle my fiance? _

Kageyama put down his pen and looked up at the articles he’d pinned on the wall. He’d left notes by the ones he felt were important or ones he thought were lying. He’d written things like, “If that’s what really happened. (Trust no one.),” “What should I do?”

He picked up his pen again.

_ Please tell me I didn’t do that, mom. _

***

Hinata pushed open the sliding glass door again and looked over the edge. Iwaizumi was either asleep or not watching because Hinata could see his car but not him. Hinata took a deep breath and then tied his string of sheets onto the railing, throwing it over the side once he’d finished. He wasn’t taking any more chances, he had to get out of there no matter what.

Gingerly, he pushed himself over the side and down the rope until he made it to the balcony below his. Hinata silently thanked himself for staying in shape as he knocked on the glass door. A child came into view, but no parents. Hinata wasn’t sure what to do. He tried gesturing for the child to come to the window so he could ask for help, ask him to bring his mom or dad, but the kid took one look at him and opened his mouth in an earsplitting wail that was loud even to Hinata.

“No, no, it’s okay, I’m not trying to-”

Hinata was cut off by a very outraged looking mother and a father who was quick to pull out his cell phone and dial. Hinata was caught. He could go no further down because he was out of makeshift rope and he couldn’t get help because help was clearly calling the police on him for being a creeper.

The police didn’t bother listening to his story, which makes sense because it sounded insane. Instead they took him in cuffs to the police station. Hinata had never seen the inside of a police station, but it’s exactly as he imagined it from all of the tv he watched. Except the smell. The smell of burnt coffee and stress sweat permeated the place. 

When he finally got in front of an officer, Hinata debated the best way to explain the situation so he didn’t sound like a liar or a crazy person. Once he’d worked out a plan, the officer asked him to hold on a moment while he grabbed another cup of coffee, leaving Hinata sitting in the middle of the room surrounded by cops and several unsavory sorts also in handcuffs. He decided right then and there he had to convince this cop to help him so he didn’t have to stay in a cell with any of the actual criminals.

“I got a match for our John Doe from the car that went off the bridge.” Someone said behind him. Hinata glanced back and sure enough, there was his face on the computer screen. “Hinata Shouyou, age 28. 

Hinata’s vision swam for a second, terror coursing through his veins. It hadn’t even been twenty four hours yet, but they’d already recovered Hotaru’s body from the crash? He was going to have a full on panic attack at any moment because the conversation behind shifted to how he, or that other Hinata, had been recovered with a piece of paper, a suicide note. “If your creditor dies, your debt disappears. It’s the only way.”

He was screwed. No matter what he said right now he was screwed. Before his officer could return, there he was, that crazy fucker Oikawa. His assistant must have clued him in. What was really frightening to HInata, though, was how easy it was for Oikawa to get someone to let Hinata go and then to just walk him out of there like he owned the place. No one questioned him. No one tried to stop him. When he told them he knew Hotaru and that he’d just been released from the hospital after an accident, no one asked for proof. 

Oikawa didn’t say anything to him as they drove back to the apartment. Iwaizumi’s car was still there, parked across the street. He didn’t say anything at all until he was stopped down the street, but when he did talk it was chilling.

“I’m sure we won’t have another incident like this. You’re a murderer now. If you try to go to the police, you will go to prison. I will keep you safe. Do we understand one another?”

Hinata gave a curt nod. He could feel his palms sweating. Oikawa didn’t stop him from getting out of the car, but Hinata could feel him watching as he began to walk the last block to the apartment. It was still dark out, though it must be early morning at this point. Hinata wasn’t afraid of the dark, though. He had much more serious things to fear now.

***

Kageyama watched the apartment building carefully. He didn’t know exactly what he was looking for but he was sure there was something.

“Wouldn’t it be best to just come back in the morning?” Yatchi asked timidly. Kageyama gave her a look. “Nevermind. We’re already here.”

Kageyama turned back to look at the building and Yatchi let her eyes wander until she caught something in the corner of her eye.

“Wait. Isn’t that your fiance?” Kageyama swiveled to confirm that it was in fact, Hotaru. “He sure does go out a lot at nights, huh?”

Kageyama sighed and walked of towards Hotaru. Yatchi threw up her hands and followed, thinking of all the other jobs she could’ve accepted. As Kageyama approached, Hotaru looked up slowly and then gasped when he saw who was coming closer. Kageyama stopped a few feet away.

“Are you feeling better?” He asked. Hotaru began to nod but then shook his head.

“No, I’m not. I want to rest, so please leave,” Hotaru started walking again but Kageyama took a step closer, eyes trained on Hotaru’s scarf.

“Let me just check one thing,” Kageyama reached out his arm for his neck and Hotaru moved back.

“What are you doing?”

“Just give me a second, it won’t take long,” Kageyama rushed forward and ripped the scarf from Hotaru’s neck, pushing him down. When he looked up, Kageyama could see a bright red line just where he’d thought it would be. He had strangled Hotaru, hadn’t he?

Kageyama shook his head slowly before getting himself together and dropping to his knees. He picked up Hotaru’s scarf and tied it around his neck gingerly.

“Hotaru, I am so, so sorry,” Kageyama stood up and made eye contact. “I’ll see you at the family meeting.”

***

Oikawa leaned against the passenger's seat window and smiled to himself. Everything was going the way he’d planned. Even Kageyama’s Psychiatrist was doing what he wanted. He thought back on their last conversation.

_ “Is that even possible?” Oikawa leaned forward, intrigued. _

_ “I think so. Anything is possible if you believe it,” the doctor replied. _

_ “That’s a very interesting theory,” Oikawa said, lacing his fingers together. _

_ “By theory, memories aren’t always accurate. Even with just one word, you can morph a memory. While we are in the session, I just have to tell him what he’s seeing rather than let him see what really happened. We can make him guilty just by placing a single false memory inside his head,” the doctor explained. Oikawa smiled. “We can even make him a believe a dead person has come back to life. It’s the same theory as Pavlov’s dog. A dog drools when it hears the bell and Tobio sees his mom when he sees the necklace.” _

Oikawa was pulled from his thoughts when the car stopped. He opened his door and took a deep breath, stepping out as Iwaizumi pulled Hotaru’s gurney from the back of the van.

He smiled at Iwaizumi and walked to the edge, listening to his complaints about how heavy Hotaru was. By the time he pulled the gurney to the edge, Oikawa had be begun to feel something deep in his chest. He couldn’t quite place it but it made his hands shake as he pulled the blanket off Hotaru and lifted his wrist.

Oikawa’s heart beat a little faster when he saw what was there. Even on a visit to see his fiance, Hotaru had worn the bracelet he’d given him. He thought back on that day. It had been Hotaru’s birthday, Oikawa had wanted to give him something nice, something that would last forever.

flashback or nah?

Oikawa gripped the bracelet in his hand as he felt his stomach turn over in an unfamiliar way. He pulled hard and the steel rings holding it in place tore apart. He shoved it in his pocket and wiped the mist from his eyes. He could feel Iwaizumi watching him.

“I’m ready,” he said. Iwaizumi nodded and stepped back as Oikawa put his arms under Hotaru to lift him. He turned with Hotaru in his arms and then, taking one last look at his closed eyes as if trying to search them, he dropped the body off the bridge and into the water, not bothering to say goodbye.

***

“Was there anyone who might want to hurt your son?” Natsu glanced at her mother as she began to reply. They had decided to go to the police station and report Hinata as missing.

“Now that I think of it, a lender-,”

Her husband cut her off. “They aren’t that bold, don’t worry about it,” he said waving it off.

“You never know!” She said, heated.

“Calm down,” the police officer cut in. “You said your son was drunk and didn’t come home?”

Hinata’s parents nodded and Natsu looked down. She had said this was a bad idea.

“Don’t worry too much. Go home and wait. If I get a report, I’ll notify you right away.”

“How can we not worry when our son has gone missing? If you were in my shoes, would you be able to stay put?” Hinata’s father demanded. Another officer came by and interrupted their conversation.

“Excuse me, you said your son’s name was Hinata Shouyou?” All three nodded. “We found his body in the water under bridge sixty two, I’m going to need you to officially identify it.”

“What? His what?” his mother questioned close to tears. His father had his hands over his face and Natsu didn’t know what to do exactly.

“His body, I’m so sorry,” the officer took out a plastic bag with a set of keys inside. “These are his right?”

Natsu nodded as her mother began to cry.

***

Hotaru’s apartment, Hinata couldn’t think of it as his own, was beautiful and modern. The design was all done in bold reds and clean whites. If it hadn’t felt like a prison, HInata might have drawn comparisons with it and his old high school. As it was it just felt like so much window dressing for a cold prison cell.

He couldn’t stand spending so much time alone with Oikawa. Even when Iwaizumi was with them. Hinata just wanted privacy. He wanted five minutes to consider what he’d got himself into. Which of course was exactly why he didn’t get any alone time now. Not since his failed escape attempt.

That was how Hinata found himself stiffly sitting on the sleek white sofa while Oikawa lounged in seeming comfort in the matching chair next to him, flipping channels on the large flat screen television hanging above the fireplace. There was tension in the air, but Hinata couldn't place it as anything outside of his own fear and confusion.

When Oikawa settled on a news program, finally, Hinata felt the room drop out from under him and his stomach cramped hard at the sensation.

“Authorities have now identified the body of the crash victim as Hinata Shouyou, age 28.” 

Hinata’s fingers dug into the couch on either side of him and he leaned forward in horror as a familiar picture of him from college popped up on the screen.

“He was in the stolen car with his creditor, a man he stabbed with a keychain just before driving the car off the bridge, killing them both. A note detailing his plan to absolve himself of debt was recovered, a clear motive for the murder suicide he committed.”

Hinata’s family was there in the background, crying, his mother being held up only by the strength of Natsu’s tiny arms. He didn’t choose to do it, but Hinata was on his knees in front of the sofa. He hated it. He couldn’t let them believe this could he?

“I will protect you from this, Hinata. You only need to do what I tell you.” Oikawa sounded so sincere and Hinata was so shocked from thinking about his parents and what they might be going through that for a moment he nodded. He did need protecting. Oikawa’s face, however, was cold as he watched Hinata, gauging his reaction.

“Tonight we have dinner at Kageyama’s home, a family dinner, and Hotaru’s parent’s will be there. This is the final family meal before the wedding so you must attend and you must convince everyone that you are still the right choice for Kageyama and that he is right for you. This is something you want, and you are going to be happy. You know what the consequences are otherwise, yes?”

Hinata nodded again and Oikawa smiled. It was a charming smile, if one didn’t know the type of person hiding behind it.

“Good. Let’s get ready.”

***

Hinata didn’t want to go to dinner with Kageyama and Hotaru’s parents. He didn’t want to go to that house and pretend, but he had no choice. Oikawa made that very clear. If he turned himself in, he was a murderer and a liar and he would absolutely wind up in prison. Oikawa let him know, too, that he was the one protecting Hinata from all of that, which meant doing what he said and giving up his life as per their agreement.

Hinata was startled by a knock at his door. He got up to answer it and unsurprisingly, he found Oikawa standing on the other side.

“Are you ready?” He asked curtly.

“Yes,” Hinata lied. He was dressed properly, but mentally, he was completely unprepared.

“Let’s go then,” Oikawa turned and walked out of the apartment, Hinata close behind. “Hajime will be driving you. If anyone asks, you drove yourself.”

“Why?” Hinata asked curiously.

“Use your head. We can’t show up together or it’ll be suspicious.”

Hinata wanted to ask more about Oikawa and Hotaru’s relationship but didn’t voice any of his questions.

When they finally made it to the lobby, Hinata let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. They stepped off the elevator and exited the building into the cool air outside. Oikawa walked Hinata to where Iwaizumi was standing by one of the cars and left without saying anything.

“Get in,” Iwaizumi said gruffly, opening the passenger door for him. Hinata climbed in and buckled his seatbelt. Iwaizumi watched him closely as he went around to the driver's seat and got in.

Predictably, the drive went by slowly. Hinata wasn’t sure if he’d have preferred Iwaizumi to speak to him, though.

By the time they arrived, the dinner party was in full swing. Hinata supposed Oikawa had done this on purpose, so it would seem even more so that they hadn’t been together.

When Hinata walked into the dining room, Hotaru’s parents gave a fond wave, Oikawa offered up a smile and after a few nudges, Tsukishima raised his glass in a short hello before finishing it off and refilling it with the bottle of wine sitting next to him.

Hinata took his seat next to Hotaru’s step mother and smiled sweetly at her and picked up his own glass, drinking it quickly and then gesturing to one of the staff members to fill it again. He had a feeling that he was going to be doing that a lot.

After the third time his wine glass had been filled, his, no, Hotaru’s mother leaned over.

“Aren’t you drinking a little too much?” She asked, worriedly.

“Sorry, I’m just a little nervous,” briefly, Hinata wondered why no one thought Tsukishima’s drinking habits were strange.

The silence after that was thick and icy. It was only broken by small talk between the parents in the room.

“Is your son doing better?” Kageyama’s mother asked, not looking at Hinata. “He was at our place when it happened.”

“He’s doing a lot better, he’s regained a lot of his memory too,” Hotaru’s father said happily. “He’ll make a full recovery if he keeps receiving treatments.”

Hinata grimaced. This was going just as he thought it would and it still made him want to scream.

“When I first heard he didn’t remember anything, I was surprised and worried,” the Chairman cut in, looking up from his food. The room went silent again before he next spoke. “What should we do about their wedding? It’s probably too much to proceed as we had planned, right?”

“No, we should continue as we had planned. Hotaru has lived by himself this whole time, once he moves in with your family it will help him recover. Tobio will take good care of him,” Hotaru’s father looked at Hinata, smiling. “Am I right, Hotaru?”

Hinata opened his mouth to speak when he noticed Kageyama staring at his neck, where it was covered by his turtleneck shirt. Kageyama spoke before Hinata could react.

“I… can’t proceed with this wedding,” everyone in the room turned to watch him as he spoke. Kageyama quickly pulled himself together. “I just don’t have the confidence to maintain a happy marriage. I’m sorry.”

Kageyama stood and pushed his chair in, preparing to leave. His father yelled after him.

“Sit down!” He snapped. “The moment you walk out of this room, you close the door forever. You understand what I mean, right?”

Kageyama balled his fists and stood still, watching his shoes as he breathed slowly. His father turned to Hinata.

“Hotaru, we’ll continue with the wedding if that’s okay with you. What do you want to do?”

“‘If you wear a mask… you can never be happy,’” Tsukishima scoffed and filled his glass again, emptying the bottle. Oikawa was watching Hinata closely and both sets of parents were staring intently. “Wearing a mask while pretending to love a person I have no feelings for, will ultimately make me unhappy.”

Kageyama’s father leaned back in his seat, deflated. His mother patted his leg but didn’t look up. Hotaru’s parents didn’t move at all, shocked at their son’s words.

“That’s why I…,” Hinata took a deep breath and stood up to look at Kageyama. “Will live truly loving him. That’s how I want to live. Happily. With my family. There’s nothing more that I ask.”

***

The club was packed, but Kageyama only recognized about half the faces dancing around him. Guys from school, men from work, people he hadn’t seen in years. Women in too little clothing to be anyone he’d ever known. Some of them, he guessed, might be hired, but by who, he wouldn’t know. This was a party thrown by his supposed work friends, but it felt more like a party for them than a bachelor’s party for him. 

For one thing, it would take a lot more liquor for him to be interested in the women dancing around him. All of them were too young for him anyway, but they stayed, despite his lack of interest. The colored lights lit their exposed skin in hues of magenta, teal, and purple, until that was all Kageyama could see. The sake helped. The vodka helped even more. Anything to forget the fact that he explicitly told his family he would not go through with the wedding only to have his father remind him privately that he had an obligation to prove he was a steady man capable of running the company. Kageyama hadn’t had a choice, he’d just gone to his party as his father expected.

“I didn’t know they were your type.” One of the fake friends sauntered up and gave the girls a once over. Kageyama felt his face heat under the obvious slur though he said nothing.

Another guy, this one Kageyama couldn’t quite place leaned in from another group. “I heard that no one was your type. Not even that Hotaru guy. Too good for everyone. The king, looking down on all the peasants.”

“I could break him in for you. He’s pretty enough to be a girl.” Another voice said.

Kageyama snapped. He whirled on the guy and raised a fist, but one of the women he’d been dancing with grabbed his arm.

“Come on, he’s not worth it. We can party without him.” She smiled slyly up at Kageyama and he found he was too drunk already to care about the insinuation she was making. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. 

Since this was already the worst party he’d ever been to, Kageyama let the girls lead him upstairs, filch his key card for the top floor, and pull him into his suite. He sits on the settee, and the three girls pile around him. One offers him an open bottle of champagne and he drinks it with abandon. If he was really going to marry Hotaru tomorrow, he may as well try and drink himself to death before sunrise.

Only ten minutes into this private party and Kageyama wanted to see Hotaru. They hadn’t finished their conversation at dinner. Kageyama wanted to warn him, to tell him not to show up to that wedding. Kageyama’s father was forcing him, but there would be nothing he could do to either of them if Hotaru just didn’t come.

_ Meet me at the hotel, at the party. We need to talk. _

***

Hinata hated leaving things the way they had. Kageyama had stormed from the room, leaving him speechless and followed closely by his father. Hinata had to pick up the pieces and chat with Hotaru’s parents, all the while pretending not only to be someone he wasn’t, but pretending that someone thought Kageyama just had cold feet. When maybe just maybe, he’d killed his fiance didn’t even know it. He might try again, or not. Or maybe he was caught up in things the way Hinata was, things that were out of his control. Either way, Hinata felt obligated to see him and to check on him. He didn’t think twice about going to the hotel to talk when Kageyama texted him.

He’d managed to give Oikawa the slip after dinner as Oikawa was meeting with Kageyama’s father and smoothing the situation over someone. He was ordered to go home, but he hid out in a coffee shop for a while until he thought it was safe to meet Kageyama at the hotel.

The hotel where the wedding and honeymoon were set to take place was also consequently the location of Kageyama’s bachelor party so Hinata knew where it was. He began by looking for Kageyama at the party, but he didn’t seem to be there. After several rounds of jeering it became apparent that Kageyama had already retired to his room.

Hinata took the elevator to the top and found the door was unlocked already. Inside, he could hear distinctly feminine giggling and the gruff rumble of Kageyama’s voice. For some reason, he was blushing before he could even process what he was hearing. When he realized what he might be walking into, Hinata stopped in the foyer and listened.

“Kageyama-kun…” 

It shouldn’t matter. It didn’t matter. Except Kageyama was the one that contacted him and told him to meet here. It made him angry and the anger gave him the courage to march out into the room. 

He found Kageyama propped up between two women on a tiny sofa, while a third danced in front of them with a bottle of champagne in one hand. He felt his red cheeks go scarlet with heat. They were all dressed in skimpy clothes that could hardly be called dresses, and while HInata couldn’t care what women wore, it was plain these companions had a specific sort of party in mind the way the lounged all over Kageyama.

“Excuse me,” Hinata told the ladies, interrupting them first by clearing his throat. He hadn’t meant to come off so harsh but he was too shocked to control himself.

The giggles that met his outrage did nothing to soothe his sudden temper. He didn’t know Kageyama at all, but he hadn’t expected to walk in on this scene. He turned to leave but before he could there was a hand at his elbow holding him back.

“Don’t go yet. We haven’t had a chance to talk.” Kageyama whispered in his ear. His breath smelled like burning liquor and raised goosebumps on the back of Hinata’s neck.

Hinata jerked his arm away and turned back to face him. “It seems you already have company, so I’ll be leaving.”

“Everyone get out.” He growled at the women, who complained until Kageyama raised his voice and ordered them out in no uncertain terms. They looked frightened and Hinata couldn’t help feeling bad for being a part of that fright.

Once the room was empty Kageyama took a seat on the chair and patted the sofa for Hinata to take a seat as well.

“We’re not getting married.” Kageyama said softly.

Hinata knew to expect this, but he had no choice. Oikawa made sure of that.

“It seems like we are.” Hinata pointed out. “Didn’t I just interrupt your bachelor party?”

Kageyama narrowed his eyes. “I’m serious Hotaru. Don’t show up for the wedding or else.”

Hinata sat as straight as he could and mustered his courage before replying. “Or else what? My father expects a wedding. So does yours.”

“What happened to the man that told me he didn’t need this marriage? How can you possibly think after everything that we should live together? Kageyama rubbed at his temples as he spoke.

“Kageyama--”

“No. You listen to me Hotaru. You will not show up to that wedding. You’re in danger. Don’t you see that?”

“Danger?” Hinata’s pulse kicked into high gear.

Kageyama was on him before Hinata could do anything. He pushed him back, pressing him into the sofa, hard, pinning him down with his body. They were face to face and Hinata couldn’t breathe.

“It rained and the river overflowed. A scorpion who couldn’t swim, asked a frog for a favor. ‘I won’t hurt you, so please help me cross this river.’ The frog believed the scorpion, and they started to cross the river. But the scorpion ended up stinging the frog. Before he died, the frog asked, ‘Why did you sting me? Now we’ll both die.’ And the scorpion replied, ‘I had no other choice. I’m a scorpion after all.’”

Hinata blinked away tears and stared at Kageyama’s misty eyes.

“If we get married I’ll kill you. I already tried once, didn’t I?” At this he tugged at Hinata’s scarf until it loosened and he tossed it to the floor. Hinata’s bruise was much fainter now, but it was still there. Kageyama traced it with his finger, his eyes wide and sad, Hinata thought. 

Hinata shoved out from under Kageyama and stood panting for air. “I’m not afraid of you. You aren’t going to hurt me.” His voice wobbled, betraying his real feelings.

“You seem afraid.” Kageyama righted himself with a grim look.

“Maybe I’m afraid for you,” Hinata offered.

“Don’t come, Hotaru. This is the only warning you’re going to get.”

Hinata gulped and picked up his scarf, winding it back around his neck.

“See you tomorrow, Kageyama.” With that he left, slamming the door behind him.

***

Natsu held one of her mother’s arms while her father held the other. This was the only way to keep her on her feet as their neighbors and friends passed by on their way out, leaving flowers in the casket with Shouyou’s body. It was too much for their mother. It was too much for Natsu. The little temple where they held the ceremony was packed with loving concern, but Natsu was unfeeling to all of it. Her mother was the opposite, barely able to nod as people passed by, sobbing into her hands.

“He probably didn’t make it to heaven.”

A sly voice cut through Natsu’s thoughts. When she looked up, first at her parent’s horrified faces, then at the man before them, she felt that coldness in her turn to hard steel. The loan sharks had decided to pay their respects apparently.

“This is all your fault! You aren’t welcome here!” Natsu let go of her mother to take a swing at Akaashi, but her mother crumpled to the ground and Natsu couldn’t leave her like that. She fell to her knees beside her mother, wrapping her arms around her tightly.

“Don’t be like that. Shouyou made his own decisions. If this is anyone’s fault, it’s yours.” This was directed at Natsu’s father, who could only stand there with tears running down his reddened face.

Natsu glanced around for help, but found they were alone.

“You came. You said your piece. Now leave.” Natsu kept her voice as steady as possible.

“Not until I pay my respects,” Akaashi’s smile made Natsu feel sick. He and Bokuto walked to the casket and whispered to one another before leaving with a bow. 

***

Whenever he’d imagined getting married, he’d imagined how happy he’d be. How beautiful his mother and Natsu would look. His father in his suit, smiling. Surrounded by friends and well wishers. He wouldn’t be alone like this.

He sat in the room the hotel provided him to get ready by himself. It was beautiful here and the sun streamed through the windows causing the warm golds and beiges to glow softly. There were even fresh flowers scattered around the room, and his boutineer sat in a clear box on the dresser next to a clean white handkerchief.

Everything was lovely. Especially his white tuxedo which was completely unexpected. It fit him like a glove. He and Hotaru really must have been twins in some alternate reality. Even so, standing there in front of the mirror looking better than he’d ever looked before, Hinata could only think of his mother and how she really should be here with him, sham wedding or not.

He must have been about fifteen, but Hinata clearly remembered the last time he and his mother had talked about marriage. Hinata came out to her first and she took it very graciously, telling him she’d wondered but had never wanted him to feel pressured either way. At the time it was still illegal for men to marry other men, but the two of them dreamed together any way.

_ “You’ll be so handsome, Shouyou.” _

_ “Mom, please,” Hinata nudged her slightly, blushing. _

_ “It’s true, it’s true! You’ll be dressed so nicely and your groom will be a beautiful young man,” she brought her hands to her heart and sighed. “You’ll look at each other with love in your eyes and-,” _

_ “Mom!” Hinata buried his face in his hands and his mother patted his back. _

_ “It’ll be one of the best days of your life, you’ll see.” _

Hinata felt tears well up in his eyes and wiped at them furiously. He missed his mother. Could he ever be happy again knowing that his family thought he was dead? He laid his head down and breathed in deeply. 

_ “Don’t come, Hotaru. This is the only warning you’re going to get.” _

Hinata shot up, pushing his chair down as he stood quickly.

***

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Natsu’s father fell to his knees next to them, giving in totally to his grief.

Part of Natsu wanted to correct him, but the other part, the hard, cold, steel part of her wanted him to feel ashamed and to feel guilty for pushing Shouyou to this awful end. Rather than risk trying to say anything, Natsu chose to lay her hand on her father’s arm and draw him into their embrace. There, alone in the temple for just a moment, Natsu let it all out and cried there holding her mother with her father’s help. 

Together they stood, and Natsu led the way out of the temple and into the sunshine where they waited for Shouyou’s casket to be brought out and placed in the hearse.

***

Iwaizumi had had a feeling he was going to need to call Oikawa at some point during the wedding. So as he watched Hinata run past him and out the front doors, he wasn’t surprised. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number he knew too well. 

***

Kageyama shuffled his feet as they played the music for Hotaru. After a few moments, Kageyama let out a breath. Hotaru wasn’t coming.

Instead, Oikawa walked through the doors and sat next to Tsukishima, who still had that sad look on his face. He downed his drink and set the glass down, waving over a server.

***

When Hinata finally slowed down, he was down the street from the temple and he could see everyone standing outside. The hearse was there already open and waiting for the casket, and his parents stood with Natsu to the side, holding one another and weeping openly. It made his chest constrict to see them so bereft.

He felt his feet move, but suddenly, there was a hand on his arm, holding him back. He turned to look and his eyes met Oikawa’s.

“If you want to go, then go,” Oikawa let go of his arm. “You’re the one making the decision.

He turned and walked forward but stopped as Akaashi and Bokuto came out of the temple carrying the box of condolence money.

Hinata closed his eyes for just a second before running after Oikawa and grabbing his arm. Oikawa smiled brightly.

***

Kageyama was watching his shoes when the music suddenly started again and everyone began to clap. His head snapped up and he saw Hotaru walking down the aisle. He grimaced and walked forward to meet him, taking his arm in tradition. He leaned down and began to whisper harshly.

“I warned you,” he said, walking at a fast pace towards the altar. “I’ll kill you.”

“It rained and the river overflowed. The overflowing river is too scary for a frog to cross by himself,” Hotaru smiled at him, a gesture that like most of those as of late, is completely out of his character. “Let’s tell people that I just slipped and fell into the pool.”

Kageyama drew in a breath, shocked by the words, “Why are you telling me this?”

“We’re getting married. Soon we’ll be a family. Family should always be by your side. No matter what they have done.”

Hotaru turned to look at the priest as he began to speak. Kageyama couldn’t focus on the words he was saying anymore.

 


	8. Heaven Created by the Devil

_ “After I’m married to this man, what do you want me to do?” Shouyou looked at a picture of Tobio forlornly. Oikawa turned to him with a stern look on his face. _

_ “You need to have him on your side. Make him trust you. He hates having physical contact with others, so make him want you physically. After that, you can control him. You can have everything he has,” Oikawa set down the folder of information he’d compiled for Shouyou and leaned back in his chair. _

_ “Are you… are you telling me to sleep with him?” Shouyou said, shocked. Oikawa smiled. _

_ “What’s wrong with that when you two are married?” He shifted, crossing one leg over the other and looked Shouyou in the eye. “Within one year, he will be the heir to the Kageyama Group. We have to stop him before that.” _

_ Shouyou looked at his shoes, trying to breathe deeply. He didn’t want any of this. He looked up at the picture again when Oikawa started to speak once more. _

_ “Your father fell ill due to stress over money and his son chose death over debt,” Oikawa picked up Tobio’s picture. “When you have power, you can sing. When you have nothing, you just scream. We’re living in hell right now but we can make heaven together, Takahashi Hotaru.” _

******

Shouyou was pulled from his thoughts when the car stopped. He looked over at Tobio as he stepped out and Shouyou followed right after. Shouyou couldn’t help but be impressed by the scene before him, the grounds in front of him were immaculate. When he finally turned away from the endless gardens, his eyes were met with the Kageyama home. 

It was bigger than Shouyou had been prepared for, much larger than anyone could have described accurately. The outside was a polished white with blue fringe around the windows. The front doors were made of clean glass that almost seemed invisible. The staff lined the walk to the entrance and they bowed to Tobio as he walked by. Shouyou hurried after him and entered the large house.

He craned his neck to look at the high ceiling of the entry hall and was amazed by the beautiful stained glass window that cast colorful lights all along the walls and floor. He turned his gaze to the paintings along the walls as they ventured further inside, towards the main rooms. Some he recognized but others he couldn’t place. They seemed to follow a certain pattern of color, mainly blues and deep greens, with patches of grey and white here and there.

Shouyou couldn’t believe the sheer beauty of the place, it was like nothing he had ever seen before. He wanted to explore the entire house and see everything but his movements halted when he nearly ran into Tobio, who was looking at him like he was an idiot and gesturing to his parents, standing on the grand staircase. 

Shouyou quickly pulled himself together and stood next to Tobio, bowing towards his parents politely. The staff around them applauded and Shouyou felt his face go red at the attention. It didn’t feel very positive. He looked at the balcony attached to the staircase and locked eyes with Oikawa, who smiled and gestured to the man next to him. Oikawa wrapped his arm around his husband and Kei sighed, examining his nails. Shouyou looked away.

“Hotaru,” Tobio said coldly. Shouyou turned and stared in between his eyes. “Let’s go.”

Tobio started walking down one of the halls and Shouyou followed slowly. The area was oddly quiet to Shouyou but he brushed it off as Tobio came to a stop and opened large door. He entered but Shouyou hesitated right outside the room. He was about to enter a space that he should never have even seen. So many things held his feet still but he pushed them away. He wasn’t going to stutter now.

He gingerly stepped inside and saw that Tobio was watching him.

“I’m going to take a shower. Stay out here and don’t mess with anything,” he barked. Shouyou nodded and sat down on the couch. He looked around and his eyes settled on the huge picture above the television. It was of himself and Tobio at their wedding. The two stood arm in arm, faces blank and eyes empty. He looked away quickly.

He examined the table in front of him. It had a large tray with several remotes in it. Shouyou picked one up and pointed it at the TV. He pressed the large button at the top and something moved next to him. The curtains parted and let in the light from outside. Shouyou pressed the button again and the curtains closed. He set the remote down carefully and looked at the others in the tray. This time he picked up a slim black one and pressed the largest button on it. All the lights in the room shut off.

“What are you doing?” Tobio called angrily from the bathroom. “Turn the lights back on!”

Shouyou stood up in a panic and pointed the remote at the lights, pressing buttons at random. He finally found the right one and rushed around the room, turning on all the lights. He stopped in front of the bathroom and pressed the button at the door, he let out a breath of relief when the light flooded from under the door.

Before he could walk back to the couch, the door opened and Tobio stepped out in a robe. He walked towards Shouyou and Shouyou backed up until his legs were against the side of the bed. Tobio leaned to grab the remote and Shouyou fell back on the bed. Tobio sighed.

“Get up,” he said. Shouyou didn’t move, petrified. “I said get up.”

Shouyou shot up and and quickly walked a few feet away. Tobio picked up the small phone by his bed and spoke into it quickly.

“Please bring me new sheets,” he set the phone back down and turned to Shouyou. “In this room-”

Tobio stopped speaking for a moment and Shouyou looked up to see him staring at his neck, where a bit of gauze could be seen under his high collared shirt. Shouyou pulled his collar up higher and looked down.

“Why don’t you go wash up?” Tobio said quietly.

“Why?” Shouyou said, no longer scared.

“Do you need a reason to wash up?” Tobio took a step closer. “Go wash up.”

“I don’t want to,” Shouyou said defensively. “I’ll do it when I feel like it.”

“ _ Fine _ . We’ll do it your way. At least, go wash your face.” Shouyou opened his mouth to speak but Tobio leaned in and hissed, “ _ Please _ .”

Before Shouyou could move, two housekeepers walked inside the room, not bothering to knock. Shouyou took note of their name tags.  _ Tanaka _ and  _ Shimizu _ .

Tanaka smiled coyly at Tobio as they carried the new sheets to his bed. Shimizu was smiling behind her hand and Tobio jumped away from Shouyou, face red. Shouyou caught on and blushed.

“I, am going to go wash up,” Shouyou said quickly, trying not to stumble over his words as he rushed to the bathroom.

Shouyou turned on the shower and leaned against the wall next to the sink. He let out a breath and leaned to wet his hair in the sink.

“ _ Make him want you physically. _ ”

Shouyou shook his head at the memory, thinking back to the wedding.

“ _ I will kill you. _ ”

At this point his resolve had practically been ripped in half.

He finished wetting his hair and changed into one of the robes hanging by the shower. He slipped on a pair of house shoes from a rack beside the bathroom door as he had not done so before. He took a deep breath before pushing open the door and stepping into the room. 

“Hotaru, over here,” Tobio waved him over to the couch. Shouyou took a seat on the furthest corner from Tobio. “This is where you sleep from now on.”

Shouyou pointed at the couch incredulously, Tobio nodded as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

“There are only three rules you must follow in this room. First, don’t touch my stuff. Second, don’t make a lot of noise. Third,” he pointed up towards a small staircase that lead up to what looked like another room. Shouyou was amazed that he hadn’t noticed it before. “You can never go up there. If you follow those rules, we should get along.”

Shouyou nodded and looked at his feet. The silence that filled the room was oppressive and incredibly empty. Tobio cleared his throat and Shouyou looked up.

“You said there was someone you loved. You can see him. I don’t care,” Tobio coughed into his fist. “But you can’t get caught.”

Shouyou was working hard trying not to ask every question that was coming to mind. He wanted to know who Takahashi had loved. He wanted and needed to know so much more about his new identity.

“When people look at us, we’re um, we’re a happily married couple. The marriage wasn’t arranged, we fell in love. We have no problem living in the same room. Do you understand?” Though Tobio was speaking, the words weren’t registering in Shouyou’s head. He was too focused on how hard Tobio was trying to act like Oikawa.

“Why aren’t you answering?” Tobio snapped, arms crossed over his chest. Shouyou pushed aside his bag so he could stand. Tobio watched it fall to the ground and his eyes went glassy as he stared at the straps.

“Kageyama, we don’t have to be this extreme, I could-,” Before Shouyou could finish speaking, Tobio leaned down slowly and picked up Shouyou’s bag. He lifted it over his head and then threw it a picture of their wedding on the coffee table. It shattered and Shouyou yelped. Tobio straightened and began to speak.

“This marriage was a business deal. It means nothing to you, so stop pretending to be nice. Don’t pretend to care, either. Let’s not provoke each other and try to coexist in here,” he crossed his arms again and looked Shouyou in the eyes. “If I end up killing you, it will be solely your fault. Do you understand,  _ Kageyama  _ Hotaru?”

******

Shouyou stared at his plate. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what Tobio said. He’d hardly slept. Even though he’d had more than ten hours to do so, he just hadn’t been able to fall asleep.

“Hotaru, how are you feeling?” Shouyou’s head shot up as he looked for who had spoken. Yuna, Tobio’s stepmother, was staring right at him. “It’s still hard after what happened, isn’t it?”

“Yes…,” Shouyou trailed off. He glanced at Oikawa, who was giving him a hard look. “Uh, no, I’m doing much better.”

“Good,” Tobio’s father, Kyousuke, nodded, pleased with the answer.

“What about you, Tobio? How did you sleep? You usually can’t sleep with someone next to you,” Yuna adjusted her large necklace as she spoke. Shouyou couldn’t help but think it looked ridiculous on her. She seemed small underneath it and it didn’t match any of her other jewelry. It had a large rose in the center surrounded by comically large pearls. Tobio coughed and Shouyou realized he was staring at her chest.

“That was when I was younger, I’m older now,” Tobio said assertively, despite not looking up from his plate. Oikawa snickered. “I slept very well.”

Everyone turned to look at Shouyou expectantly. It took a swift kick under the table from Oikawa for him to finally understand.

“Oh, I slept well too,” he said with a forced smile. Tobio‘s parents nodded and moved on.

“How is the construction for the shopping mall going?” Kyousuke asked Tobio.

“If the city signs on, we will proceed,” Tobio said, setting down his chopsticks.

“Hm, we really won’t know how they feel unless they sign the contract. Until then, talk to the Mayor. Find out what else he wants from the deal,” Tobio agreed and Shouyou pushed his food around his plate. He wanted their conversation to end so he could get away from Oikawa’s oppressive gaze. “If this works out, I’ll transfer you to headquarters.”

Tobio looked up from his plate, his mouth full of food, “Headquarters?”

Oikawa seemed pained. He looked betrayed even. 

“You can’t sell merchandise at the department store forever,” Kyousuke turned from Tobio to Shouyou . “Hotaru, starting today, you’ll be working at the gallery.”

This time it was Kei who looked hurt. He leaned over the table towards Kyousuke and began to speak quickly.

“The gallery is run by mom and I!” Oikawa rubbed Kei’s shoulder in sympathy but Kei brushed him off.

“That’s exactly why I want him to work there. If he gets to move around and meet other people, he’ll recover faster. You guys didn’t even go on your honeymoon. If he’s stuck at home, he won't get better. You and Yuna can help him.”

Kei was shocked but his mother seemed to agree with Kyousuke.

“I think it’s a good idea. You went abroad to study art. Maybe working at the gallery will help restore your memory,” Shouyou could have sworn the comment was of malintent but he shook it off. 

“Should I throw you a welcoming party at the gallery?”

******

Shouyou watched Oikawa lean against one of the columns by the driveway. He hated the sly look Oikawa always seemed to wear.

“The Chairman doesn’t want to give you work at the company yet. He wants his family to keep an eye on you. First, do what he says. Cooperate and try to find out what you can slowly.”

“Are you done talking?” Shouyou drew himself up as tall as his short stature allowed. Oikawa’s face went cold. He was offended. “What are you going to do about my debt?” Shouyou pressed.

“What do you mean?” Oikawa asked innocently.

“God! What did I come all this way for? I’m talking about my family’s debt!” Shouyou wanted to stay in control, but this was outrageous!

“I told you I would pay if off. In order to do that without suspicion I need to do it slowly. I’ve already said all of this and I don’t appreciate repeating myself. Do not make me explain it again. If I get angry, I don’t know what I might do to you.” Oikawa leaned in too close for Shouyou’s comfort as he spoke.

Shouyou tried his best not to flinch at the words being flung in his face. It frightened him and he lost the angry kick he’d been on. Obediently, he nodded.

“Good. Focus on being Kageyama Hotaru and leave the rest to me.” Oikawa appeared to melt back into his charming self. It made Shouyou shiver.

Being Hotaru reminded Shouyou of something important. “Who is the man he loved?”

Oikawa went still again, like he was two people, the calculating deadly one was suddenly back.

Shouyou pressed on, not looking directly at him. “If there was such a man, you should have told me. I need to know everything about him in order to pull this off.”

Oikawa didn’t have time to answer, though, because Tobio joined them outside.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Tobio didn’t look nearly as put out as his words sounded.

“We were just talking about the gallery and he gave me a good piece of advice,” Shouyou found it was easier to breathe now that he wasn’t alone with Oikawa.

This seemed to appease Tobio who simply said, “Go get ready, we have somewhere to go.”

“Where?”

“Since we made the deal, we need the receipt,” Tobio was cryptic, but Shouyou followed him back inside to get ready all the same. Eventually he’d have to know about this man Hotaru had loved, but for now it was a relief to be anywhere but with Oikawa and his threats.

After Shouyou finished getting ready, they took a drive. Tobio took him downtown, along with Shimizu and Yachi as witnesses, to sign their marriage contract. A receipt, he’d called it. Everything was so cold in this family. 

Tobio signed first and then it was Shouyou’s turn. His feet dragged despite knowing he was going to have to go through with it. This made it official. This made it real. Flashes went off behind him, the press wanting to get the images of the heir to the Kageyama Group with his new husband, but Shouyou couldn’t focus on them or anything else really. He began to sign Hinata Shouyou, but quickly caught himself and scratched it out before putting Takahashi Hotaru.

******

On the other side of the building another document was being signed. Natsu held her mother’s hand while her father signed the death certificate for Shouyou. It was hard, even after the cremation and interment. This made it official. This made it real. Her father sobbed so hard over the paper that Natsu feared he wouldn’t be able to complete it. 

Back home, the three of them sat around their little table going through the box of personal effects the police gave them. Kenma came by, knowing where they’d been, and brought with him a bunch of yellow flowers. Yellow always reminded him of Shouyou, who was like a ray of sunshine to everyone who knew him. Natsu put them in a little vase as they each shared their favorite memories together. At some point, Natsu excused herself and never came back.

“Do you remember when he graduated,” Harumi held out a plain black watch for everyone to see, “He was so happy to get this watch. He said it made him an adult. Finally he’d be on time.” They all nodded and the sharing continued. Finally, after about an hour, Kenma realized they were missing someone. 

“Where did Natsu go? She never came back.”

“I’ll go look for her,” Harumi suggested, standing and heading for the door. “I need some fresh air anyway.”

******

“And then I said, “Who am I talking about? Who the fuck are you talking about?” He ran off with his tail between his legs!”

Natsu forced a laugh. Just being in the same room as these people was giving her a headache. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to do what she’d been sent for.

“ _ It’s easy. Listen, you just act natural. Act the way the other girls do. They have more experience and they are the ones who are responsible for physically distracting the target. If you get nervous, just look to them. Get him drunk. Get him high if you want. When the other girls take him to bed, that’s when you slip out and bring me the safe code and anything else you think is worthwhile. Remember, this man owes me money, a lot of it, and he can pay me, he just refuses. You aren’t doing anything wrong, sweet Natsu. Get in, get out, easy as can be.” _

Already the man was drunk. Natsu was sitting right up against him, nervously laughing at his stories. He had one of the other women in his lap and one on the floor rubbing his feet. It made her feel a little sick to know what was coming, but these girls probably had no more choices than she did. If it were up to Akaashi she’d eventually become just like them. Thank god she had no experience and was just sent as the thief. For now.

******

Hajime was on a mission. He had orders from Tooru to buy a few of the bonds owed by the Hinata family in order to better control the debt situation. Over time he would purchase more and more until the entire debt was owned by Tooru and he would forgive it himself, quietly. No one would need to know it was him as long as they never saw him and none of these low lifes would ever connect Hajime to Tooru so it was a perfectly clean plan. 

He hated to even go in the dilapidated building owned by the loan sharks, but he had to act like it didn’t effect him. The paint was peeling and the doorknob look rusty and filthy. He was just reaching for it when it turned and a girl came out. She almost ran him over. Hajime immediately recognized her from his reconnaissance. Hinata Natsu. She looked, haunted, that was the only way to describe it, and her lip was split and bleeding. Natsu gave him a once over but didn’t know who he was. He moved so she could pass and she did so without a word.

Inside he sat with Bokuto and Akaashi and presented his proposal.

“You want to buy all of these bonds. That’s a lot of money. All of the sudden, I’m not sure I’m inclined to sell. What do you want with the Hinata’s?” Akaashi narrowed his eyes at Hajime and sipped his tea.

“My boss is willing to pay handsomely to keep his business personal.” Hajima told him frankly.

******

The gallery was much more modern than Shouyou was expecting. However, it was lovely. It didn’t matter, though. He knew nothing about art. No crash course on Hotaru’s life could prepare him for working in a gallery either.

Shouyou was standing at the railing of the second floor looking out over the main hall when Kei found him.

“Brother-in-law. Tell me the truth.”

“About what?” Shouyou glanced around, curious, but nervous they’d be overheard. He couldn’t guess what Kei was going to ask.

“Are you lying about losing your memory?” Kei crossed his arms and looked down at Shouyou over his glasses.

Shouyou was speechless. 

“How much of your memory is really gone, if any at all? For instance, do you remember the man you used to live with?”

“I lived with a man?” Shouyou could feel his palms sweating. This was exactly what he’d needed Oikawa to explain to him just the day before.

“When you lived abroad. You lived with a French guy. Everyone knows. Pretending otherwise is just lame.” Kei sneered. “Did you end it with him? I heard you were still seeing him right up to your wedding day. You can’t have forgotten him if you were still seeing him.” He smiled an ugly smile.

“Hotaru!” Kei’s mother Yuna called as she walked up.

Shouyou breathed a sigh of relief for the interruption. His stomach was starting to cramp up with nerves. 

“Hello,” Shouyou bowed his head at Yuna and the woman she was with. 

“Shouyou, this is Nakamura Ayumi. She’s one of our most important clients. I was just telling her how happy you’d be to escort her to the mall to pick out the latest cellphone and accessories.”

“Oh. I…” Shouyou felt the cramps start right up where they’d left off. He couldn’t go to the mall. Someone would see him and recognize him.

“There, it’s settled. Shouyou will escort you and I will call ahead so they can have everything ready for your arrival.”

Shouyou couldn’t get out of it. He didn;t know how he’d survive this trip. Thankfully he was allowed to take his own car.

“This better be good.” Oikawa’s voice was as cold over the phone as it was in person.

“Our mother-in-law is making me take a V.I.P. client shopping at the mall right now!”

“You can’t go to the mall.” Oikawa sounded furious.

“I know! But I couldn’t get out of it either. I almost had to take the limo with that woman but I convinced them taking my own car made more sense so I could call you!”

“Then you better make sure you’re in character, because if you blow this now, I will kill you,” he hissed.

“Yeah, I’ve got it!” Shouyou hung up the phone before Oikawa could say anything else.

******

“Is there anything wrong?”

Tobio looked at the phones in the display case. “Not exactly, but I think we need more accessories up front. Pink accessories. Our client’s favorite color is pink.” He glanced at the salesperson’s name tag. Tetsurou. The other was Kenma. They looked at one another, but hurried to obey Tobio’s command.

******

“I really don’t like rich people,” Tetsurou sniffed. “Why don’t they just shop when everyone else shops? Why do they have to shop after we’ve closed?” He shot a glance at Kenma, “Don’t you agree?”

“While I do wish they wouldn’t, I don’t like myself with no money,” Kenma replied, never once looking up.

Tetsurou shrugged and continued to work before stopping and slumping his shoulders, “I just can’t believe Shouyou worked his whole life for nothing. Even if you work hard to make money, It doesn’t matter once you die.”

“I miss him too, Tetsurou.”

They worked for a while longer until they finished, stepping back to admire the newly arranged display case.

“Perfect,” Tetsurou said, holding his hands out. “Even Director Kageyama will find nothing worthy of criticism.”

Before Kenma could reply, Tobio came up behind them to examine the displays. He put a hand over his mouth and squinted his eyes.

“Hmm, it may have been better before… put it all back the way it was. The VIP customer is here, so hurry.”

Kenma nodded but Tetsurou stayed planted to the ground.

******

Shouyou stepped out of the car gingerly and pulled his cap further over his face.

He glanced from under the bill of his hat at the door of the mall. All the employees were lined up inside, waiting for them and he could see Tetsurou and Kenma standing near the end.

He straightened his sunglasses as Ayumi began walking for the entrance. He knew his disguise was pathetic but it was the best he could do. Ayumi turned back and latched her arm through Shouyou’s as they went through the doors.

Shouyou’s eyes caught on Kenma who gasped as they came into view. He stopped moving and Ayumi leaned over, worried.

“What is it? Are you okay?” She said, concerned. Shouyou didn’t answer.

_ “I may end up going to hell for this,” Shoyou said, laying his head on the table. _

_ “Do you believe in hell?” Oikawa asked. Shouyou shook his head. “Then why worry?” _

_ Oikawa leaned against the edge of the table and tilted his head back. _

_ “When I was working as a prosecutor, I interrogated a fifty-year-old man who was charged with a hit-and-run. He was pleading his innocence, but… he was sweating, shaking his legs and looking all around nervously.” _

_ “So did he end up pleading guilty?” Shouyou asked. _

_ “No. The victim was garbage who had been convicted sixteen times. The man had been selling fruit. He had a family and an old mother to look after,” Oikawa turned to look at Shouyou. “At that time, I was thinking. Is lying always a bad thing? So I told that man to take off the mask, or the world would turn against him. Put on a mask. Then the world will be on your side.” _

Shoyou looked up over his sunglasses, straight at Kenma and Tetsurou who immediately straightened and looked away.

Ayumi smiled and started to walk, arm and arm with Shouyou. Tobio came to meet them and gestured down one of the halls.

“This way,” he smiled.

By the time they made it to the store Shouyou used to work at, Oikawa had arrived. He was standing out in the hall, looking in through one of the display windows.

He watched Shouyou closely but his breath caught when he saw what was around his wrist. Hotaru’s bracelet.

Shouyou smiled at Ayumi who frowned as they looked at the new phones.

“Take off the sunglasses,” she removed the glasses from Shouyou’s face and then smiled. “That’s much better!”

“See,” Shouyou heard Tetsurou whisper. “Didn’t I tell you there was a man who looked like Shouyou?”

******

“Is that how you usually are?” Tobio asked as Yachi started the car to take he and Shouyou home.

“Pardon?” Shouyou said, surprised.

“Are you always that kind and good with older people?”

“Is this your way of thanking me?” Shouyou was confused with Tobio’s cryptic way of speaking.

“No way,” Tobio laughed. “You told me once… “If you wear a mask you can never be happy.” You’re wrong. If you wear a mask, you can pretend to be happy. Now I am finally relieved that I found a proper business partner.”

******

Tobio opened the door to the sitting room and gestured for Shouyou to step inside. Reluctantly, he did.

“Yes. I am happy to hear that your wife had a good time shopping. You should see Hotaru soon, too,” Kyousuke waved to the two of them as he spoke on the phone. “Sounds good. We will see you tomorrow.”

He stood and smiled at Shouyou, “Hotaru, I thought you were just for show but you’re good at pleasing people, too, huh?”

Kyousuke turned to Tobio, “Can we talk?”

“Yes.”

The two of them left the room and entered Kyousuke’s office, leaving Shouyou with Kei and Yuna.

Yuna stood and walked next to Shouyou, who smiled nervously.

“What did you buy?”

“Well, I-,” Shouyou began.

“No, I should have asked what you took without paying,” Kei snicked in the background. “Now we’re family. There is no mine or yours. Don’t you agree?”

“When he wrote a contract to get married, should we really consider him family?” Kei said viciously. “I get nervous everytime I see you. He only married you under the assumption that your father would run for president. What if it doesn’t work out that way? He could end up not running due to rumours surrounding his son. I wonder what would happen to our poor brother-in-law then.”

Kei examined the bags Yachi was still carrying in, “Take as much as possible while you still can. You never know what will happen.”

******

“Blood is thicker than water. Your husband is a nice surprise. He knows how to please others. It’s in his blood,” Kyousuke remarked.

“It may be who he is. It may be genuine. Or maybe he was trying to help me,” Tobio said. Kyousuke laughed.

“Make sure you know if his intentions were genuine or not if you want to keep doing business with him.” His father advised.

******

Tobio opened the door to his room and strode inside. He stopped when he saw Shouyou sitting on his bed, surrounded by bags.

“What are you doing?” He asked. “What are you doing on my bed?”

Shouyou gave him a tired look and stood up, walked to the couch and sat down again.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Shouyou said gruffly. Tobio looked at his feet.

“On the land that the country has sold, a large department store will be built. At tomorrow's luncheon, we’ll finalize the deal with the mayor. You will be given the right to purchase one percent of the Kageyama Group.Think of it as your commission. If you don’t feel comfortable taking it… or if you were just thinking about helping me without wanting anything in return, you don’t have to take it.”

“Give it to me, I’ll take it,” Shouyou said quickly. “You know as well as I do why we got married.”

“Do as you wish, our relationship is a business deal after all,” Tobio walked to his bed and took off his suit jacket, eyeing all the bags. “While I take a shower, please clean this all up.”

Shouyou sighed and took out his phone, opening Facebook. He navigated to Natsu’s page and began to scroll through it until he made it to a post that made him throw down his phone.

“ _ It’s my mom’s birthday today.” _

Shouyou grabbed one of the bags by Tobio’s bed and left the room, heading for his car. On his way out, Oikawa stepped behind him, unnoticed.

Kei, up on the balcony, made a face and drank from his glass as he watched Oikawa follow after Shouyou.

*****

Shouyou stepped out of his car and walked down the street until he was across the road from his family’s shop. He could see inside that his father was on the phone and he could just barely hear what was being said. He walked a little closer but before he could focus on the words, Oikawa grabbed his wrist and pulled him into an alleyway.

“Do you know what the most foolish emotion in the world is? Love. Rationality and logic all fail when it comes to love! Love ruins everything!” Oikawa hissed, breath hot in Shouyou’s face. “Do you love your family? Do you want them to live a luxurious life?”

Shouyou nodded weakly.

“If you truly love your family, forget about them. Don’t ever visit them again. For their sake.”

“Can you promise me? My family… will you take care of them for the rest of their lives? Can you promise me that?” Shouyou pleaded.

“You’re the one making that promise. It all depends on you.”

“My mom hasn’t called yet, right?” Shouyou turned to see where the voice was coming from. Natsu was talking to a woman in the street. He sucked in a breath, and turned his head away.

Natsu walked a little further down the street but stopped when he saw the two of them in the alleyway. She moved closer and Shouyou began to panic.

Oikawa had to think quickly. He grabbed Shouyou and pulled him into his arms.

Natsu stopped walking, but just before she turned away, she noticed the gift inside the bag. It was wrapped in her mother’s favorite color.

As soon as Natsu was out of earshot, Shouyou pushed Oikawa away and walked into the street to hear what his father was saying.

“Did Harumi not visit you? Do you know by any chance where she might be?”

Shouyou’s heart sped up.

“What should I do? My mom never goes anywhere without telling someone!” He turned to Oikawa who seemed to be deep in thought.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll find her.”

******

Tsukishima swirled the wine in his glass as he watched Oikawa and Shouyou come into the house together.

******

Shouyou sat on the couch and felt tears well up in his eyes. He made no move to wipe them away and let himself cry.

On the other side of the room, Kageyama had woken and was watching Shouyou. He closed his eyes after a moment and fell back asleep.

******

Oikawa walked into his room and began to take off his suit jacket when he noticed Kei sitting on their bed.

“Where’ve you been?” Kei asked.

“Something urgent came up at work,” Oikawa smiled as he spoke.

“Is that so? What was it?” he looked Oikawa in the eyes. “It must have been something very important if you had to take care of it personally.”

Oikawa‘s eyes went blank, “I’m asking because I’m worried.” Kei offered.

“Once we make an investment agreement tomorrow, we need to sign a contract but there was an unfavorable clause on our side. I reviewed and corrected it,” Oikawa smiled again and placed a business card down on the bedside table. “Call them and ask if you want to know more about the corrected clause. It would be beneficial for you to know a little about these things too.”

Oikawa backed into the bathroom, humming. When he shut the door, Kei picked up the card and went to ri it, but stopped himself.

He pulled out his phone when he heard the shower and dialed the number from the card.

“I wanted to ask you something,” he said when the person on the other end picked up. “Did you correct something from a contract with Oikawa Tooru? I heard it was related to the investment agreement contract.”

He listened closely to what the woman had to say, trying to find any fault in her story.

“You did? Thank you. Don’t tell Tooru I called. Do you understand?”

He hung up and picked up the card once more and ripped it to shreds.

******

Tobio sat up in bed, woken by a nightmare with bodies thrashing underwater. His breath was coming fast, but he was used to it by now, so he took several deep swallows of air to slow things down. The room was dark and silent save for the perpetual hum of the air conditioning. And something else. A tiny sound, like someone in pain. 

He glanced around the room, reorienting himself and caught sight of Shouyou on the couch. He was crying in his sleep. The soft, pained cries were definitely coming from him. Tobio considered laying back down, but only for a moment. Shouyou looked so helpless and alone over there, curled in on himself with nothing to comfort him or keep him warm.

Tobio sighed and swung his legs over the bed to stand. He walked over to the couch. Wet streaks covered Shouyou’s pale cheeks. He murmured something, barely more than a whimper, and Tobio found himself moved despite his need to stay as far away from Shouyou as possible. He grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and laid it over Shouyou, tucking it in around his shivering shoulders. He wanted to do more, but what more was there?

******

Shouyou woke, warm and much more rested than he expected considering the nightmares he was sure he’d had in the beginning of the night. He was wrapped in a blanket he didn’t remember covering himself with and tucked under his cheek was a handkerchief embroidered with a K and a T. Kageyama’s handkerchief. Shouyou ran the fine material between his fingers, thinking, but no answers came to mind so he laid it aside. He was late waking up, Kageyama had let him sleep in for some reason, but he knew they had an event scheduled today and it was important. 

He quickly got dressed and headed outside, where the staff was preparing tables and meals for some special occasion.

Shouyou looked around, trying to find Oikawa. He finally caught sight of him across the garden and he practically ran after him. He grabbed Oikawa’s arm and asked him frantically, “Did you find her?”

Oikawa looked over at Shouyou only to be shocked at the sight of Hotaru’s bracelet around his wrist.

Kei walked over with a passive look, “Find what?”

“He’s looking for someone and asked for my help,” Oikawa said cooly.

“Is that so? Who is he trying to find?” Kei slug a look in Shouyou’s direction. “I could help him too.”

“His nanny. He’s known her his whole life and desperately wants to find her.”

“So? Did you find her yet?” Kei asked.

“Of course. I was just about to let him know. If you’ll excuse us,” Oikawa gestured for Shouyou to follow him and they walked inside one of the pavilions in the garden.

Oikawa slammed the door shut behind the two of them.

“This investment agreement must fail. Try to put a stop to it,” he said when he turned to face Shouyou. “Congressman Takahashi knows about the Mayor’s corruption scandal. You must use that to your advantage. Bring it up during the luncheon. Casually Mention that your father is aware of his scandal. The Mayor will be scared off and won't sign the contract,” Oikawa stopped speaking and looked at Shouyou, who didn’t appear to be listening. Before Oikawa could say anything else, Shouyou was talking.

“And? What about my mom?” SHouyou asked, eyes wide. He brushed some of his hair out of his face and Oikawa caught sight of Hotaru’s bracelet around his wrist.

“I told you. I found her,” Oikawa said coldly. “She was at her friend’s house and returned very late at night. It wasn’t a big deal.”

“Which friend?”

“You know the side dish store owned by Miss Katsuki?” Shouyou nodded, looking relieved. “Once the luncheon is over, I’ll let you check on her yourself. So, wait.”

Shouyou nodded and Oikawa grabbed his arm, slipping two fingers under the bracelet.

“Also,” he said, looking Shouyou in the eyes as he ripped it from his wrist. “You possess everything in the house, Mr. Kageyama Hotaru. Everything, but this.”

Oikawa pocketed the bracelet and left the pavilion.

*****

Ryuga hung up the phone. Another dead end in looking for his wife. He had been so sure she had gone to stay with a friend but so far no one had contacted him.

He sighed and Natsu stepped through the door, her face blank as she shook her head.

Ryuga leaned back in his chair and felt the tears run down his face. Where could Harumi be?

Suddenly, a thought struck him and he said aloud, “Maybe she’s there.”

*****

Shouyou waited a moment before walking out of the Pavilion. He looked around before pulling out his phone. His finger was over the contact for his father when someone behind him coughed. 

“The mayor wants to know how you’ve been,” Kyousuke said, smiling. “When the mayor and his wife visit, catch up with them.”

“Just do what you did the other day, don’t be stressed about it,” Yuna was wearing another hideous necklace. This time it matched her pleated skirt. “Okay?”

“Yes,” Shouyou smiled. Yuna held out a small bag and he accepted it. The two of them waved their goodbyes and they were gone. Shouyou’s phone was practically burning a hole through his pants.

He pulled it from his pocket and called his father. At first, the line was completely silent and then his father was speaking.

“Hello? Hello? Please speak! Is it you? Honey, Harumi, is it you? Where are you?”

Shouyou hung up the phone and swung around, eyes locked on Oikawa. He marched his way over until he was standing right behind him. He tapped his shoulder and smacked him as soon as he turned around.

“Don’t make anymore promises. I won’t trust you anymore,” Shouyou didn’t wait for Oikawa to speak before storming off towards his car.

Just before he could get in and drive away, Tobio grabbed his arm.

“Where are you going? The Mayor will be here shortly,” Tobio said curtly. “Mr. Kageyama Hotaru, I’ve told you that this luncheon is very important.”

“Let go of me,” SHouyou snapped.

“You don’t want a share of the stocks?” Tobio asked. Shouyou smiled harshly.

“A share?”

“Your privilege is to purchase one percent of our stock at half it’s current value,” Tobio said, practically hissing. “It’s worth billions of yen.”

“I don’t need any of that,” Shouyou pulled his arm free and got in his car just as Oikawa knocked on the window.

“Let’s have a talk. I think you've misunderstood something,” he said sweetly.

Shouyou scoffed and drove off. Oikawa hung his head but turned around and smiled when he heard Kyousuke approach.

“What’s going on?” he looked at Tobio. “Did something happen between you two?”

“No, sir,” Tobio said.

“Then why did he just take off?” Kyousuke asked roughly.

“I’ll go talk to him,” Oikawa said, heading for his car.

“No, that’s alright. I’ll go,” Tobio said, brushing Oikawa off.

Both men headed for their cars, giving each other dirty looks until they parted ways.

As soon as he got in his car, Oikawa called Hajime.

“Stop Tobio first,” he said, hanging up quickly.

****

Tobio sped up and pulled beside Shouyou, rolling his window down.

“Hotaru! Stop the car!” he yelled over the sound of his horn.

While he was distracted, someone in a familiar car pulled in front of him and slowed down. Tobio slammed his horn again and tried switching lanes but the car just swerved in front of him every time.

They were forced to come to a stop at a red light behind several other cars. Tobio swore and took out his phone, calling Yatchi.

“Call the phone carrier and let them know it’s an emergency. Tell them to track Hotaru’s phone.

****

Oikawa smiled to himself as he hung up the phone. Unbeknownst to Shouyou, his car had a tracking device on it that was linked to the GPS system in Oikawa’s car and would lead him wherever Shouyou was going. Tobio would be left behind thanks to Iwaizumi.

After several quick turns he found himself behind Shouyou as they raced down the roadway. That was no good. Shouyou needed to stop. Now. He dialed Shouyou and waited while it rang.

****

Brother-in-Law, Shouyou’s phone displayed as it rang. He debated on picking it up, but seeing that Oikawa was clearly right behind him he decided he might as well.

“It’s not too late to turn around.” Oikawa told him as soon as the call connected. “Turn around, go home, and all of this can be resolved.” he added.

“This is your fault!” Shouyou’s frustration was coming out in his voice and in the form of tears he angrily wiped away.

“What are you thinking? What happens when you find your mother, Shouyou? Turn the car around now or I will stop you!”

“No.” Shouyou hung up the phone and hit the gas.

After only a breath he was jarred from behind. Oikawa was ramming him with his car! Shouyou tried to speed up, but he was hit two more times, causing the car to veer dangerously each time. If he couldn’t get away from Oikawa soon, they’d be in a wreck and there’d be no helping his mother.

Shouyou moved into the lane of oncoming traffic in order to go around a truck in front of him, but Oikawa stayed right on his bumper the whole time. He was watching in the rearview mirror when he heard a horn blast and looked up to see a car coming straight at him. Quickly he swerved as did Oikawa who managed to get in front when Hinata overcompensated and ran onto the shoulder. Oikawa braked and Shouyou only barely missed hitting him by switching lanes at the last minute. He couldn’t seem to shake Oikawa no matter what he did. 

Oikawa pulled up beside him, and Shouyou realized he was driving in the bus lane, not paying any mind, but gesturing over at him to pull over. Shouyou could see ahead there was a bus stopped so he waved his hands back at Oikawa to try and get him to look, but it was almost too late. Oikawa swerved right off the road to avoid the bus and his car flipped twice coming to a hault at the bottom of a ditch. 

Without thinking, Shouyou pulled over and ran to check on Oikawa. He was bleeding from his head, but alive. Shouyou helped pull him from the steaming wreck of the car and then made a snap decision. He threw away the keys and grabbed Oikawa’s phone before he could move.

When he saw the hesitation of Shouyou’s face, Oikawa grinned hatefully. “You don’t have it in you to kill me, even now, because you and I are different.”

“Yes. I do. We’re not different anymore, you’ve made me just like you.” Shouyou assured him. He could take the phone now and Oikawa would lay in this ditch and bleed to death before anyone found him.

“You won’t do it, though.” Oikawa narrowed his eyes as if he was uncertain suddenly.

As much as Shouyou hated it, Oikawa was right. He wouldn’t leave him here to die. He dialed emergency services and tossed the phone to the ground.

“If my mom dies, I won’t stand for it,” he said, making his meaning as clear as possible before running back to his car.

Immediately, Shouyou drove to his family’s home. He called several times, but no one answered. No one was home either, so Shouyou rifled quickly through his mother’s things trying to find any clue as to where she might be. He found nothing. 

Shouyou ran out of the house and down the street, staying on foot in the narrow twists and turns of his neighborhood, calling all the while for his mother. He was so absorbed with looking for her that he didn’t realize he was being followed.

****

“I found him. He’s running around his old neighborhood calling for his mother.” Iwaizumi told Oikawa. 

“Run him down. Stop him at all costs.” Oikawa sounded distant, but Iwaizumi would follow his instructions to the letter. He hung up and revved the engine before taking off like a shot down the hill.

****

Shouyou hears the car before he sees it. He only has enough time to think, this is it, as the car barrels toward him. He expected to get hit, but the hit came from the side instead. Kageyama was rolling them into the grass beside the road, just in time for the car to flash by. For a moment he couldn’t breathe. He’s laying in Kageyama’s arms and he knew he needed to move, but all he could do was look up at the cherry blossoms above him. It was a memory and it was tickling the back of his mind.

Kageyama must have come to himself because he rolled away from Shouyou in a panic, tore off his jacket and stood, dusting his hands off as best he could. Shouyou stayed put.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me?” he asked.

“I think I know where she is,” Shouyou watched as the petals fells around him.

“What?” Kageyama sounded shocked and angry.

Shouyou stood quickly and grabbed his arm. “Please help me. I’ll explain everything later.”

Kageyama threw him off and back down to his knees where he landed hard. He crawled to Kageyama, desperate, and grabbed at his leg. “I’ll do anything you ask. Please just help me this once.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Please, please,” Shouyou cried now, all of his fear pouring down his cheeks as Kageyama tried unsuccessfully to throw him off again.

“Let go of me!” Kageyama shook him, but Shouyou just hung on harder.

****

“This is the last place. If she’s not here, I don’t know where she’s gone or what’s happened.” Ryuga stopped to lean against a tree and catch his breath.

Natsu took a breather too, pulling out the picture of all of them together under the cherry blossom tree they’d planted together. It had been too long since Natsu had come out here so she couldn’t remember exactly which way to head.

“All of the paths are gone too. It’s practically impossible to know where to go,” Ryuga scrubbed at his face in frustration.

“We should call the police and ask them to search this area,” Natsu suggested, tucking the picture back into her pocket.

“I tried that before we came out here, but they’re too busy looking for someone important. They don’t have enough men to send out.” Her father sounded bitter but resigned.

Natsu was shocked by this news. How could the police make that kind of decision? Wasn’t her mother just as important as anyone else?

Her father pushed off the tree and resumed walking. “Honey!” he called.

Natsu followed his lead and began calling for her mother, too. “Mom! Mom!” The forest didn’t have any answers, though, so Natsu followed Ryuga further into the woods.

****

Tobio stumbled to the top of the hill and put his hands on his knees, wheezing. Shouyou stood beside him, barely winded.

“You clearly said that you’d do anything, right?” Tobio gasped, trying to stay on his feet. Shouyou looked at the officers inching around the forest, searching for his mother.

“I’ll play dead if you want me too, just let them find her,” Shouyou said, eyes still wandering frantically.

“I don’t need you to do that,” Tobio said, waving his arm in dismissal. One of the officers looked up just then, holding a shoe in his hand.

“I’ve found something!” Shouyou gasped as he recognised it. It was his mother’s shoe.

He hardly noticed it when he fell trying to run down the hill. By the time he knew that he had, he was already up again, running under branches and over roots. He was close to giving up when he finally saw her.

She was lying asleep under two cherry blossom trees, one with his name right in front of it on a small sign. He flew across the field and fell down at her side, begging her to wake up.

“Mom! Mom, please wake up!” she opened his eyes slowly and smiled up at him.

“My son,” she said. “Do you like your tree?”

“Mom,” Shouyou laughed and laid his head over hers, crying.

Tobio braced himself against a tree as he walked into the clearing. He took in the sight of Shouyou crying over a woman he didn’t recognize.

“I’m so sorry, Mom,” he sobbed, holding her.

Tobio could only watch as the two of them cried together.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you're enjoying it so far!  
> [Fic Blog](http://haikyuu-masks-au.tumblr.com/)  
> [Erisgregory's Blog](http://erisgregory.tumblr.com/)  
> [Ooi_kawa's Blog](http://oikawa-no.tumblr.com/)


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